


We're all Animals (literally)

by Quagswagging



Series: Animals [1]
Category: Formula 1 RPF, Formula E RPF
Genre: Bonding, Charles is a literal Puppy, Crack, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Shapeshifting, Spirit Animals, Team
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-06-22 12:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 19,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15581586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quagswagging/pseuds/Quagswagging
Summary: All drivers have a spirit animal they can shift into, it was about time they showed the others what animal they can be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A combination of sleep deprivation and a zoo visit the other day (there really was an otter playing with a pebble and that was sooo adorbs)
> 
> Silly; but enjoy ;)

20 drivers were sat in a single, large room, all awkwardly looking at each other. They were sitting in a circle on the ground, no one wanting to be the first. 

They had decided to call a meeting to show the others their spirit animal, something which people often tended to keep to themselves. Everyone could change into an animal form, but most opted to never do that in public.

By knowing the spirit animals of all the other drivers, and showing their own as well, they would create a bond, which would make explosive fights or rivalries less unlikely.

Still, since it was something so private, all drivers were a little hesitant to start.

“Well I’ll go first, I don’t think anyone would be surprised anyways.” Daniel eventually said, standing up and walking to the middle of a circle. With a plop, his body morphed into something much smaller, black and white fur and slightly menacing teeth.

“He really is a honey badger.” Pierre chuckled in slight surprise anyways. The honey badger scurried around a little, playfully nipping at Max’s toes as he passed. He rolled onto his back next to him, and Max snorted and tickled his furry belly.

“Yeah, but he’s not exactly ferocious.” the Dutchman said. Badger-Dan let out a growl and turned back to his normal self, glaring at his teammate.

“I’m a badger, of course I’m ferocious.” he grumbled, pouting a little. Seb snorted.

“Yeah demanding belly tickles is the definition of ferocious.” he said. His remarked got rewarded by Dan’s middle finger. 

“Max can go next.” he grumbled. Max grinned and took his place in the centre of the circle. On his spot, a lion materialised. 

“Okay… damn…” Nico muttered, eying the large cat in approval. Max shook his mane and stretched lazily. 

“He’s not so impressive when he’s chasing a laser pointer.” Carlos announced. Max growled at him, ears pressing back against his head, but Carlos was not impressed. “Save it, Simba.”

“How about the Renault boys next then?” Brendon proposed. Carlos shrugged.

“I’ll go first.” he didn’t even bother going to the middle of the circle and shifted on the spot, a little meerkat suddenly rushing around the room. With a squeak, it climbed onto Nico’s head, biting at his hair a little before doing the well-known meerkat stance, raising himself on his hind-legs. He jumped off of Nico’s head and ran over to Fernando, contently curling up on the other Spaniard’s knee for a moment. 

Once Fernando had convinced Carlos to shift back, the young Spaniard sat back next to his teammate.

“Your turn.” he chuckled. Nico sighed dramatically but got up. His animal was a leopard, which, considering the amount of leopard print he already wore on an average day, was not a big surprise either. The leopard chuffed and swished his tail. It nipped at Carlos’s hair before walking around the room.

Arriving at Checo, he let out another chuff and bumped his head against the Mexican’s shoulder, allowing him to gently stroke his soft fur.

Turning back into his human form, Nico hed out his arms dramatically.

“Tadaa!” he said without any particular enthusiasm. “Guess Force India can go next.” he decided, flopping back on his spot next to Carlos. Esteban groaned but stood up.

“Don’t laugh.” he murmured before shifting. A tall, not quite adult giraffe stood in front of them, moving his long legs rather clumsily. Lance grinned and walked over to him, Esteban lowering his neck to the Canadian could touch his nose.

“It’s actually pretty cool.” he whispered. Esteban’s ears perked up a little at the statement.

Checo didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic to show the others his spirit animal either. He was a fluffy sea otter, that moved around the room rather grumpily until Nico held out a small, polished rock. 

Checo let out a squeaky noise and rushed over to carefully take it for him, holding in his paws as he enthusiastically rolled around on the floor, still making soft noises. 

Eventually, Fernando reached over and gently poked the fluffy little guy’s tummy. Checo snarled, holding the peddle close to his chest.

“Change back, Checo.” Fernando urged. Checo huffed but changed back, quickly tucking the peddle into his pocket. He coughed awkwardly.

“Sorry about that…” he said, blushing a little. “It’s eh… my favourite pebble, all otters have one…” Fernando smiled.

“Is okay...Me and Stoff go next?” he said. Stoffel nodded hesitantly. Fernando was already standing up, and shifted into a red fox, swishing his tail a little. Dan chuckled.

“He’s foxy…” Nando let out a weird, bark-like noise that had all the other snort. Fernando changed back and glared.

“That’s normal fox noise.” he grumbled, before pushing Stoffel to the center. The Belgian groaned but changed as well, a little hedgehog shyly sniffling around. Pierre grinned and shuffled a little closer.

“You’re adorable!” he cooed. Stoffel promptly rolled into a little, spiky ball when the Frenchman reached out for him. Turning back to his human form, he coughed awkwardly.

“Sorry ‘bout that… it’s an instinct…” he mumbled. Pierre smiled and shrugged.

“It’s fine… how about I go next?” he proposed. The others nodded. Pierre’s animal was a squirrel with an extremely fluffy looking tail. He scurried towards Stoffel, climbing onto his shoulder. The Belgian smiled, laughing as Pierre ran down over his back again.

Brendon was next, and he shifted into a small brownish bird. Some drivers were confused what he was meant to be, but Daniel was rolling on the floor from laughing.

“Our Kiwi really is a kiwi!” he giggled. Brendon the kiwi bird ruffled his feathers a little and clipped his long beak before changing back. 

“Just staying true to myself.” he joked. He decided that William’s should go next. Lance stood up and shifted into a large brown animal.

“...Deer?” Max guessed. Esteban chuckled.

“He’s a moose actually.” he corrected. Moose-Lance nuzzled the Frenchman’s hand in thanks, before shifting back and shrugging.

“I’m as Canadian as it gets.” he said, before nudging his teammate, Sergey promptly shifted into his animal, a white stork. Marcus let out a scared yelp an hid behind Charles, who only laughed.

“You’re a bird as well, dork!” the Monégasque giggled. Kevin snorted.

“Marcus ‘I’m-afraid-of-little-birds’ Ericsson’s spirit animal is a bird?” he said in disbelief. Marcus frowned.

“Sadly, yes.” he murmured. Valtteri smiled encouragingly.

“Show us then.” he said. Marcus groaned but shifted into a snowy owl, uncomfortable ruffling his feathers before quickly changing back again.

“I fucking hate birds…” he mumbled under his breath. Charles patted his arm in comfort before leaping onto his feet.

“I’m next!” he announced, changing into the form of a chocolate Labrador, and more importantly, a puppy. Puppy-Charles bounded through the room, tail wagging as he enthusiastically barked at the other drivers, which made even Kimi smile. 

Sebastian grinned and suddenly shifted as well, into the form of a Golden Retriever. Charles’s tail-wagging intensified and he ran over to the German, jumping up to playfully nip at the larger dogs chin. Sebastian barked and gently nudged him, the other drivers laughing as Charles flopped onto his side. 

Sebastian was the first to change back, still grinning as he reached out to scratch Charles’s head.

“Come on, change back as well.” he gently urged. Charles yipped and climbed onto his lap, rolling onto his back so Seb could pet his belly. Sebastian chuckled and did so for a moment, before gently lifting him off again.

“Change back Charles.” he tried again. Charles did change back this time, his cheeks flushed a little red as he glanced around the room. 

“Whoops…” he muttered under his breath. Sebastian ruffled his hair.

“It’s okay pup.” he chuckled, before turning to Kimi. “Your turn.” 

Kimi glared, lazily sitting up a little before changing into a fluffy white cat, about the same size Charles’s puppy had been.

“Oh my god he’s adorable!” Pierre said in disbelief. Cat-Kimi arched his back and hissed, ears flat against his head. Pierre’s eyes widened a little and he scooted slightly further away from him.

Sebastian did not seem impressed. He cooed something in German and lifted the grumpy cat onto his lap. Kimi wiggled around, clearly not wanting be treated like an actual pet, but when Seb gently stroked the soft fur of his cheek, he relaxed a little. 

When Seb’s hand moved down to scratch his chin, Kimi started purring, contently stretching his paws out in front of him.

“Kimi, change back.” Seb tried after a moment. Cat-Kimi meowed and curled up more, his purring increasing as he closed his eyes.

“Eh, let’s just continue..?” Sebastian said awkwardly. Romain shrugged.

“I’ll go.” he said, before shifting into a ferret, scurrying around the circle briefly before changing back. 

Meanwhile Kevin was slowly scooting for the exit, but Marcus grabbed his wrist.

“Not so fast! You need to shift as well!” he chuckled. Kevin groaned.

“I’d really rather not.” he said.

“Oh just change already.” Esteban urged. Kevin huffed and shifted. The drivers did their best not to laugh at the grumpy, white rabbit sitting in front of them, it’s long ears pushed back against his head.

Marcus chuckled and took out a piece of carrot. Kevin’s long ears perked up and he hopped over, taking the carrot from him and nibbling on it. 

When he heard the other drivers chuckling, he stopped chewing and grumpily hopped back to his spot, although angrily hopping is quite impossible. 

Changing back, he folded his arms over his chest, his face scrunched up a little in his anger. Marcus reached out to teasingly pat his hair.

“So cute.”

“Fuck off, Feathers.” Kevin replied. Marcus only winked.

“So, only Mercedes to go then.” he said. Lewis grinned.

“Let’s do this then.” he said, shifting into a bulldog. 

“So many dogs here!” Max chuckled as bulldog Lewis wagged his non-existing tail, snorting before shifting back again, shrugging.

“Inevitable since I have two bulldogs myself.” he said. They all settled into silence, before Daniel suddenly frowned.

“Valtteri? What about you?” he said. The Finn looked up and blushed.

“Oh...I…” he stuttered. 

“Oeh! Let me guess, you’re a… hamster? I mean, those cheeks...” Seb teased. Valtteri frowned and shook his head.

“A… seal? The white, fluffy baby one?” Lewis tried. Valtteri shook his head again.

“Just show us!” Max said impatiently. Valtteri stood up and shifted.

“Wow.” Seb mumbled, watching the tall, white wolf in front of them. Valtteri’s ears flicked uncomfortable and he lowered his head a little, not quite enjoying the attention.

Cat-Kimi suddenly jumped from Seb’s lap and walked over, purring comfortingly as he rubbed against the wolf’s snout. Valtteri laid down to make it easier for him, his ears relaxing. After a moment, Valtteri changed back again, and gently scratched below his chin as a thank you. 

Kimi meowed and sauntered back to Sebastian, finally changing back as he sat down next to the German.

“Well that was an interesting meeting.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is waaaay too much fun to write xD

Nico frowned at the way Checo was scrambling around between the motorhomes, searching the ground with a panicked look on his face. He jogged over, gently resting his hands on Checo’s shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern. Checo’s eyes were wide as he instinctively cuddled close to the German.

“I-I lost my pebble…” he muttered softly, shivering before promptly turning into his otter form. Nico was quick to cradle him in his arms, the otter squeaking unhappily and rolling up in Nico’s hold. Nico understood the Mexican’s distress, knowing how important the pebble was from their time as teammates. 

Still holding the otter in his arms, Nico made his way to the Ferrari motorhome, knowing just who might be able to help them. 

In Sebastian’s driver room, he found more drivers than he had expected. Sebastian was sitting on the couch, a white cat contently curled against his chest, purring as Sebastian stroked his back. The German was watching a labrador puppy, Charles to be exact, chasing after Pierre the squirrel, the latter climbing onto all the cupboards and doors the little pup couldn’t reach.

Charles barked when he saw Nico enter, running over and jumping up against his leg, tail wagging like crazy, while Pierre settled on the backrest of the couch, cleaning his tail.

“Charles, calm down a little sweetie.” Sebastian chuckled. The pup turned to look at him before running to a heap of pale fur in the corner, that Nico had failed to notice before.

Wolf-Valtteri let out a surprised huf as the pup jumped on top of him, playfully nipping at its ears. 

“He needs a bath Valtteri.”Seb said with a mischievous grin. Charles flattened his ears a little, trying to wiggle away from Valtteri, but the wolf held him in place with one paw, licking his head. Charles whined but grumpily stayed in place as Valtteri cleaned his fur. 

Sebastian turned back to Nico, curiously looking at the otter cuddled in Nico’s arms.

“Is everything okay with Checo?” he asked. Nico sighed and sat down next to him. Kimi, still stretched over his teammate’s lap, opened one eye momentarily. He meowed,experimentally tapping his paw against Checo’s snout as the otter huffed sadly. 

“Checo lost his pebble.” Nico explained. The otter let out a whine, hiding his face under Nico’s arm. Seb hummed in sympathy.

“That’s horrible…” he said softly. The otter nodded his head and let out another squeak. Kimi scooted a little closer, bumping their heads together for just a moment as he purred.

“Do you think you can sniff it out?” Nico asked Sebastian. Seb nodded.

“Yeah, me and Val should be able to, as well as some others. “ he said. Valtteri looked up at the mention of his name. Charles had faĺlen asleep on his the wolf’s front paws, but Val didn’t seem to mind, nuzzling the chocolate fur gently. 

Kimi hopped of Sebastian’s lap, tail swishing as he walked over, sniffing the pup for a moment before laying down next to it. Valtteri carefully pushed Charles off his paws, ears flicking a little as the pup whined before snuggling against Kimi.

Kimi turned back to his human form, gently lifting the pup onto his lap. Valtteri nudged him with his nose, making Kimi smile gently and pat his back.

“You go with Seb, I’ll watch Charles.” he said. A squirrel cuddled up next to the pup, his tail tickling Charles’s nose until the pup sneezed. 

Nico suddenly yelped as something small ran up his back, climbing onto his shoulder. Little meerkat-Carlos squeaked and bit Nico’s ear, quickly scurrying onto Nico’s other shoulder when Nico tried to shove him off.

A small hedgehog scurried into the room as well, followed by a red fox and Jenson, who already looked exasperated. Hedgehog Stoffel immediately went over to Charles and Pierre, but hesitated when he saw they were on Kimi’s lap. Kimi wordless patted his leg and Stoffel hopped on, careful to keep a bit of distance between him and the others so he wouldn’t sting anyone. 

Jenson gave Seb a nod in acknowledgement, sitting down heavily on the couch next to him. Fernando let out a harsh call and jumped onto Jenson’s lap, licking his chin.

“Yes Yes, stop it.” Jenson chuckled, patting the red fur gently. Sebastian eyed him curiously.

“What is your animal anyways, Jenson?” he suddenly asked. Jenson blinked and shrugged.

“Badger.” he answered.

“Like Daniel?” Jenson shook his head.

“Not a honey badger, a normal badger.” he clarified. Seb nodded thoughtfully, before smiling as Valtteri rested his head on his lap, tail swishing.

“Oh right, we have a pebble to find.” Seb said, looking over at the otter still curled up on Nico’s chest, looking absolutely miserable. 

Sebastian shifted into his Golden retriever form, barking at Valtteri before jogging over to nuzzle Kimi, dipping his head to also nudge Charles and Pierre slightly, and letting Stoffel sniff his nose while keeping clear of the spikes. Then he rushed back to Valtteri, jumping and playing around him as they went for the door. 

As they went out, a bulldog and a beautiful white fox entered the room. Fernando’s ears immediately flattened and he grumpily cuddled up against Jenson.

“You’re more beautiful, Nano.” Jenson cooed to him, before looking up. 

“Hello Lewis, Nico.” Jenson greeted. Lewis changed back immediately, but Nico first hopped on the couch, sniffing in Fernando’s direction. The red fox was still making loads of grumpy noises and hissed when Jenson gently petted Nico. 

“Don’t look at me like that!” Jenson said as Fernando gave him a betrayed look, ears down a little. Fernando grumbled and turned back to his human form, but didn’t move off Jenson’s lap. 

Nico turned back to his human form as well and winked at Nando before curling against Lewis’s side.

At that moment, a honey badger scurried into the room, hissing and baring its teeth. On his back sat a kiwi bird, that jumped off immediately when Daniel skidded to a stop, ruffling his feathers a little shakily.

Carlos the meerkat climbed down from Hulk’s head and changed back to human.

“No one is intimidated Daniel.” he cooed, scratching the badger’s head. Daniel hissed again, but when Carlos pushed him over and tickled him tummy, he let out a more contented noise. Max ran in after, panting a little.

“Dan! Was running away really necessary!” he scolded. Daniel let out another hiss but ran over and tried to climb up Max’s leg, the Dutchman cursing as sharp nails dug into his flesh. He quickly picked the black and white fluff up, allowing it to snuggle against his chest. 

“Idiot.” Mark murmured, but hugged the animal a bit closer. 

A white bunny hopped into the room, followed by Sebastian and Valtteri, both in animal forms as well. A slight moment later, a nervous looking cheetah peeked around the door, skittishly making his way inside.

Hulk grinned when he saw the cheetah, and also Checo let out a squeak of recognition, perking up a little. The cheetah swished his tail, and came forward to nudge the rabbit, who huffed at him, making the cheetah jump slightly. The bunny hopped towards Checo, holding something in his mouth. 

Checo let out a loud squeak and fell off Hulk’s lap in excitement, rushing over to rabbit Kevin as it dropped the pebble on the floor. Checo took the pebble and rolled around on the floor, wiggling as he hugged the pebble close. 

Hulk meanwhile shifted into his leopard form and walked over to the cheetah, nuzzling him gently. Carlos scurried onto Hulk’s head, looking at the cheetah with a curious expression. The cheetah let out a chuf, relaxing a little and nuzzling back. 

The cheetah changed back in his human form, and revealed himself to be Guti. Checo promptly jumped up against the Mexican, cuddling close with his pebble still protectively clenched in his paws. Guti chuckled a little nervously, but stroked the otter’s soft fur. 

Sebastian and Valtteri changed back to their human form.

“Esteban helped us find the pebble.” Seb explained. “We found a couple of different ones, but Guti remembered what it looked like.” the Mexican blushed a little, but smiled as Checo climbed higher against his chest, nose pressing against his cheek with a soft sound. Guti chuckled.

“You’re very welcome.”


	3. Puppy Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles is the most adorable puppy ever, and he is always around to comfort the other animals with his puppy cuteness :3

Kimi swished his tail as he sauntered through the paddock, trying to keep an eye on the pup bounding around nearby. He let out a meow and the puppy immediately stopped in his tracks, before running back to Kimi, licking the cat’s cheek as he wagged his tail. Kimi let out a grumpy huf but let him. 

Charles barked when he spotted Marcus walking a little further away, and ran over to him. Marcus knelt down when he spotted the little dog, scratching it’s tummy as it immediately rolled over onto his back. 

“Hello little cutie.” Marcus cooed as he lifted Charles in his arms. He smiled at Kimi, who was sitting a little further away from him, washing his paws. 

A little bunny hopped up at Marcus’s side, flattening his long, floppy ears as Charles barked at him. 

“Don’t be such a grump, little bunny.” Marcus cooed teasingly, putting Charles back on the ground. Charles shifted back into his human form, grinning as he patted rabbit’s soft fur. Kevin let out a grumbling nose but didn’t hop away, no matter how Marcus was laughing.

“Oh shut up, you can’t even stay in you animal for longer than 10 seconds without freaking yourself out.” Charles scolded. Kevin the bunny hopped onto his lap with a rather triumphant look, allowing Charles to properly cuddle him now. 

Valtteri the wolf walked over as well, surprising Marcus by pressing his nose against the back of the Swede’s neck. 

“Valtteri! Stop it!” Marcus chuckled as the wolf poked him again. 

“I think he wants you to shift Marcus.” Charles told him, before going back to patting the grumpy rabbit on his lap. Marcus groaned.

“I really don’t want to.” he said with a pout. “I hate those fucking feathers.” he added in a whisper. Kimi walked over and sat down a little closer, meowing at Charles. Charles grinned an lifted Kevin off his lap, the bunny making a grumpy noise and hopping to Valtteri, snuggling up against the wolves side. Kimi noticed, sauntering over and curling up next to the rabbit, his fur so similar in colour to Kevin’s and Valtteri that it was impossible to spot the two smaller animals from afar.

“Come on, we both shift.” Charles proposed. Marcus huffed.

“You’re a pup all the time, is not difficult for you.” he muttered. Charles sighed dramatically.

“Just try Marcus!” he huffed out. Marcus groaned, but did shift, awkwardly ruffling his feathers a little. Charles quickly shifted as well and cuddled close to the large bird, wagging his tail like crazy. Marcus blinked, but did not change back immediately, which was a win. He even spread his wings after a moment and took off for a short flight through the room, before flying straight against the window and landing in the floor in a heap.

Charles bounded over and jumped on Marcus’s chest as the man shifted back, licking his chin and cheek as he whined in concern. Marcus chuckled and rubbed his head with a pained wince.

“I’m fine!” he ensured the worried little dog. He scratched behind Charles’s ear, the pup immediately rolling on his back for some tummy rubs. Marcus chuckled and did so.

“Thanks Charlesie.”

~~  
Stoffel the hedgehog slowly walked closer to Fernando, who was laying in the far corner of the room, Jenson the badger curled up next to his head. Carlos and Pierre were there as well, the little meerkat and squirrel curled up against Fernando’s soft fur. 

Fernando let out another of his harsh calls as he saw Stoffel nearing, shuffling around a little to make room for one more little one against his side. Stoffel hesitated, eying the sleeping forms of Carlos and Pierre. He knew that if he were to lay down next to them, changes were they would hurt themselves on the spikes on Stoffel’s back. 

The little hedgehog sighed and turned away again, scurrying to an empty place in one off the other corners and curling up on his own. 

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see Charles the puppy looked down at him, his tail wagging with so much force it made his whole body shake. Stoffel moved back a little as Charles leaned in to nuzzle him, not wanting the pup to hurt himself. 

Charles seemed to insist on snuggling him, however, and gently bumped his nose against Stoffel’s head for a moment before laying down, carefully curling his body around the smaller animal. Stoffel stayed very still, but then hesitantly rested his head on one of Charles front paws as he tried to get comfortable.

Another weird sounding bark startled Stoffel a little, but he refrained from curling into a ball when Charles licked his head, making the fur there stand up in weird angles. Stoffel was just about to make a grumpy noise when he realised it was Fernando who had walked over, followed by Jenson and Pierre and Carlos. Fernando nuzzled the pup for a moment, before curling around them, his head resting near Stoffel’s so the little hedgehog could sniff at him. 

Jenson clumsily climbed partially over Fernando to press his nose against Stoffel’s for a moment, letting out a comforting noise which Stoffel returned. 

Carlos laid down on top of Fernando’s head, letting out an excited squeak at Stoffel. Pierre hesitated for a moment, but then laid down opposite Stoffel, curling himself around Stoffel’s head until the hedgehog buried it’s little face in the squirrel’s fluffy side, just happy he could join the cuddles for once, all thanks to Charles.

~~

Guti sighed as he sat in the large room, watching all the other animals interact. He wanted to join, but he knew his cheetah was skittish on the best of days, and he didn’t want to accidentally hurt anyone. 

A little meerkat suddenly climbed onto his lap, sniffing curiously at him. Esteban smiled and gently patted it’s tiny head.

“Hola Carlos.” he said softly. The meerkat squeaked and ran onto his shoulder, contently curling up next to Guti’s ear. Esteban made sure to sit still as to not to disturb the little guy, smiling lightly. 

A ball of brown fluff propelled itself onto his legs with a high pitched squeak, Checo standing up against Guti’s chest as he licked the man’s chin in greeting.

He then sat back in the crook of Esteban’s arm, back legs sprawled in front of him and his front paws holding his pebble to his chest. He showed it to Guti with a chirp, the Mexican chuckling.

“Yes, it’s beautiful.” he praised, the otter contently snuggling close in return. 

Guti took in a sharp breath when a large wolf came into the room, followed by a yipping Golden retriever and a fluffy cat. The wolf was carefully carrying a little labrador pup between his jaws and put it onto Guti’s lap as well. The pup huffed a little grumpily at the wolf, but Valtteri just nuzzled his tummy for a moment, making him wag his tail again.

The puppy turned and glanced at Guti for a moment, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He barked and promptly curled up next to Checo, the otter immediately starting to groom the young animal, the frequency of his squeaks increasing even more.

A leopard entered the room as well and Guti smiled gently at it, trying to balance all the animals on his lap. Carlos noticed Nico coming in as well and stood up on Esteban’s shoulder.

Nico came forward, gently urging the others off Guti’s lap. Charles hopping off Esteban first, and fell face first on the floor. Nico let out a huff and nuzzled the pup as it whined. Carlos ran down from the Mexican’s shoulder, over Nico’s head and down the leopard’s back, toddling over to the fox sleeping in the corner.

Checo was the last to leave, letting out grumpy noise and tapping the pebble against Nico’s noise to show he did not agree. Nico just let out a chuff, nuzzling Checo for a moment before turning to Guti again.

He took the Mexican’s sleeve between his teeth and tugged, urging him off of the couch. Guti followed and kneeled down in front of the big cat, smiling softly as Nico pressed close. Nico pulled back a little and looked at him expectantly, tail swishing. Esteban swallowed thickly and sighed.

“O-okay…” he muttered, taking a deep breath before changing. Nico immediately cuddled close again, nuzzling Esteban’s neck, but cheetah Esteban jerked away slightly, his ears flicking. He tensed even more when puppy Charles bounded up to him, wagging his tail in excitement. Nico noticed and bumped their heads together in comfort, before leaning down to nudge the excited ball of fluff reprimandingly. Charles let out a whine and moved away, laying down a little further away from Guti with a sad huff, puppy eyes on full force. 

Guti laid down and poked the pup with one paw. Charles’s tail immediately started wagging again and he scooted a little closer, curling up between Guti’s front paws, while peeking up at Nico, who would have definitely rolled his eyes had he been in his human form.

Sebastian, who was sitting on the couch in his human form with cat Kimi sprawled over his lap again, chuckled softly.

“Puppy therapy.” he said softly. Valtteri, who was sitting next to him with a fluffy bunny on his lap, and an awkward looking Snowy owl perched on the sofa’s arm next to him, grinned, peeking at the owl.

“Yeah, there seem to be a lot of people who needed some of that.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just too adorable to write :3

Kimi yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he walked into large common room they had build at the tracks so the drivers could interact in their animal forms. 

He was surprised to see Esteban was there, in his giraffe form, as that was quite uncommon. Lance and Checo were with him, both still in their human forms and trying to comfort the tall animal as it shuffled around a little uncomfortably.

Kimi nodded at them, before moving to the other side. He passed Max the lion, who didn’t look very impressive when rolled onto his side with other animals sprawled over him. Daniel the badger was cuddled into Max’s mane, stretched out contently. Pierre was next to him, the small squirrel busy grooming his tail. Brendon the kiwi was perched on one of Max’s ears, giving a little squeak when he spotted Kimi.

Kimi patted Max’s nose as he moved past them, the big cat letting out a chuff and contently stretched his paws. Badger Dan woke up and hissed, but Kimi was not impressed and poked the fury guy’s belly, to which Daniel immediately rolled over, wiggling around until Kimi properly patted his belly.

He heard a bark and looked over to where Sebastian and Valtteri were curled up together, the latter sighing as Charles the puppy was trying to munch on his tail, growling and pouncing everytime Valtter tried to swish his tail away. Kimi walked over and lifted the little labrador up, smiling lightly as the pup licked his chin. Sebastian whined, wagging his tail as he looked up at Kimi. Kimi put Charles back on the floor and changed into his cat form. 

He purred and bumped his head against Valtteri’s nose, the wolf letting out a content noise and nuzzling him back, before moving over to Sebastian. The Golden Retriever whined happily and nuzzled him,Kimi letting out a grumble when he was almost pushed over by his enthusiasm. 

Kimi sat down in between them, lazily washing his paws and ears. Charles kept trying to get his attention, butt wiggling in excitement and yipping softly as he nudged a tennis ball in his direction. Kimi let out a meow and gave the ball a tap, Charles scrambling after it immediately.

Kimi was surprised when he suddenly heard a soft meow. He turned his head towards the sound. Fernando was sprawled in the corner again, actually in his human form for once, with a couple of small figure curled around him. Kimi walked closer, meowing softly again. 

A tiny brown kitten lifted his head, meowing loudly before stumbling over to Kimi. Kimi let out a surprised sound, lowering his head to sniff at the little animal. The kitten was purring and trying to press close to him, clearly excited to have found another cat. 

Kimi flexed his ears a little, but then laid down, allowing the baby to cuddle against him.

“Lando!” Fernando chuckled. Kimi curiously looked down at the kitten, who was contently kneading against Kimi’s side. So it was the new McLaren youngster…

Kimi instinctively curled around the little one, purring comfortingly. Lando purring was becoming softer, and soon he stopped moving. Sleeping contently as Kimi continued to pur.

Fernando walked over, followed by a little hedgehog and a meerkat as always.

“Want me to take him?” he asked. Kimi the cat meowed and curled around the kitten a little tighter, letting put a warning hiss when Nando’s hand came too close. Fernando chuckled and held up his hands in defeat.

“Okay!” he said in amusement, before getting distracted as a badger pounded into the room. He immediately shifted into his fox form, enthusiastically nuzzling Jenson and running around him; cooing and barking at the other animal

His mood turned more sour when Nico Rosberg entered the room, the beautiful white fox walking next to Lewis, the Brit absentmindedly patting the soft fur. Fernando grumbled, ears flat against his head. Nico walked over to him, moving to nuzzle him, but Fernando barked and hid behind Jenson.

Nico lowered his head a little and sighed sadly. While still making loads of noises in protest, Fernando shuffled closer to quickly nuzzle him a little, earning a happy sound in return.

Marcus came in with a sleeping rabbit cradled in his arms, Kevin’s nose twitching a little as Marcus walked over to the couch. Charles immediately bounded over, struggling a little to jump on the couch, but quickly moved to cuddle close to his teammate. 

Kevin woke up, his long ears flattening against his head as Charles barked and promptly licked the rabbit’s head. Marcus chuckled as Kevin turned to hide his face under Marcus’s arm. 

Charles whined, looking a little sad as Kevin moved away, soMarcus patted his head in comfort.

“It’s okay, he’s just being a grump again.” Marcus told him. Charles sighed and rested his head on Marcus’s thigh. Kevin looked up, huffed at the puppy and started cleaning his ears and head.

Kimi’s was meanwhile grooming the little kitten still curled close to him, Lando mewling contently and stretching out as Kimi carefully cleaned his fur.

Kimi hissed as suddenly Checo the otter ran over to them, the otter squeaking in excitement and sniffling at the little animal. Lando opened his eyes, meowing a little frightendly and pressing a little closer to KImi as Checo still excitedly checked him over. 

Kimi hissed again and gave Checo a reprimanding tap on his nose. It did calm the otter down a little, and now Lando dared to curiously stand up, moving over to him. Checo rolled onto his back, pulling the kitten on top of him. Lando let out a soft noise but then cuddled closer to the soft fur of Checo’s tummy.

Nico walked in, and chuckled when he saw Checo with the tiny kitten protectively held close.

“Checo, we spoke about this. The young animals can’t be your pebbles.” he said, holding out Checo’s favourite rock. Checo huffed and cradled the little kitten close, while also stretching out in an attempt to grab the rock, making Nico roll his eyes and handing it to him as he knew this was a lost cause.

Nico bent down to scoop Carlos up when the meerkat rushed over to him, settling the little animal on his shoulder. He then placed one hand on the ground. Stoffel apprehensive glanced up at him, but then climbed on, playfully nibbling at Nico’s fingers.

Nico brought them over to Max, the lion still covered in his colleagues.

“Hey lamlul.” Nico greeted, settling Stoffel near on of the lion’s paws. Pierre immediately scrambled down to curl up with him, his fluffy tail carefully draped over Stoffel’s spiky back.

Daniel poked up his little head and hissed, but then allowed Nico to scratch his chin.

“You’re a softie.” Nico chuckled, to which Daniel hissed some more.

The hissing stopped when a beautiful deer tentatively walked into the room. Daniel stumbled as he rushed over to the animal, hissing and whining while he ran circles around it. 

The deer lowered it’s head and allowed the badger to nuzzle him, before slowly laying down on the floor. Daniel let out more excited noised and pressed close to his side, contently curling up there.

Max lifted his head when he heard the commotion, Kiwi Brendon quickly hopping off his ear. He growled and flicked his ears a little uncomfortably.

“Don’t be jealous, Max, that’s Jev.” Nico said, patting Max’s mane. Max huffed before sneezing as Pierre’s tail tickled him nose.

Jev turned back into his human form and chuckled as he lifted Daniel into his arms, scratching his tummy as Dan stretched out. 

“Missed you too, idiot.” Jev murmured as Daniel let out a soft sound. Jev scooted closer to Max when he saw the big cat watching them grumpily, and carefully brushing hid hand over Max’s nose. Max let out a huf but then nuzzled him in return.

The moment was broken as Brendon let out a screech, the kiwi running around the room while a tiny kitten clumsily rushed after him, playfully trying to bat at the bird’s feathers.

Kimi sighed and walked over, grabbing the kitten’s neck and dragging him back to their spot in between Valtteri and Seb.

Lando let out a grumpy meow, but then contently settled down, purring as also Valtteri and Seb leaned in to fuss over him. 

Charles let out a whine and also curled up with them, clearly not wanting to be left out, and whined as Kimi huffily cleaned his ears. 

“I sometimes wonder if this is a zoo or a kindergarten.” Lance suddenly mused, still petting Este-giraffe. 

No one disagreed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is so adictive to write :3  
> This chapter combines a lot of requests I got, so all enjoy :)
> 
> (Otters hold hands with their friends and family when they sleep ~ info that might be handy in this chapter)

Kimi stretched lazily, rolling onto his side and slinging an arm over Sebastian’s waist. The German turned slightly and brushed his hand over KImi’s cheek, causing the Finn to pur and sleepily nuzzle into the touch. Sebastian snorted at that.

“So tough.” he giggled. Kimi frowned at him.

“Do you want me to get a tennis ball to see how tough you are?” he answered. Sebastian pouted at him.

“You’re mean.” he pouted, before suddenly turning mischievous again. “You need to stop being so catty.”

Kimi promptly pushed him off the bed.

There was a knock at the door and Sebastian pushed himself off the ground again, glaring at Kimi before opening the door.

“Charles? Are you okay?” Sebastian asked worriedly. The Monégasque’s skin was a sickly pale colour, his hair sticking to his forehead a little with sweat.

“Don’t feel good.” he muttered, swaying on his feet a little before suddenly turning into his puppy form. The little dog whined and whimpered, shivering a little until Seb picked it up, cradling it securely against his chest. 

Seb walked over to the bed, sitting down cross legged with the puppy on his lap. Charles was still whimpering, trying desperately to cuddle as close as he could. Sebastian gently shushed him, holding him closer. Kimi moved over as well, but Seb frowned and turned in such a way that Kimi couldn’t reach the pup. Sebastian turned into his Golden retriever form and curled around the pup, gently nuzzling and cleaning the little dog that was still pathetically whimpering at his side.

“Seb..?” Kimi tried, reaching for the pup again. Sebastian growled. Kimi raised an eyebrow but got up from the bed. He knew this was just Seb’s instinct telling him to protect the pup, he had the same with little kitten Lando, and he knew it was better not to get involved. 

He gently patted Sebastian’s head a little before leaving the room, deciding to go to the common room, curious to see what kind of chaos was going on there.

~~

Guti had to say he was comfortable, even if he was in his cheetah form. Nico was curled next to him, their spotted sides pressed together. Checo was between their paws, the fluffy ball fast asleep, rolled onto his back, his little front paws reached out to touch Nico and Guti’s. 

Nico watched the little ball of fur amusedly, and gently nuzzled Checo’s tummy. The otter let out a surprised squeak, grumpily waking up a little. Guti hesitantly pushed his nose against the top of Checo’s head, letting out a content sound as Checo hugged back. 

Guti stood a little frightendly as Checo suddenly got up, rushing over as Esteban entered the room. Nico got up as well, bumping their heads together and softly purring until Esteban started to calm down.

Guti let out a yelp when suddenly, a tiny figure jumped on his tail, the cheetah whining and confusedly flicking his ears, pressing closer to Nico, who comfortingly rumbled and licked his cheek. The tiny figure walked under Guti, stopping under his head and meowing. Esteban curiously looked down at the little kitten, who purred and bumped it’s head against the cheetah’s paw. 

Guti let out an unsure noise at Nico, who chuffed and laid down again. Guti hesitated but laid down as well, letting Nico curl around his side. The little kitten meowed loudly again and clumsily toddled closer, curled up between Guti’s paws. Guti unsurely flicked his ears a little, but then leaned in, sniffing the kitten before letting out a chuff and very carefully nuzzling him. Lando purred loudly his paws stretching in front of him.

A very fluffy white cat walked over to them, purring and bumping his body into the side of Guti’s neck, but stilling a little when he saw Lando and grumpily nudging the kitten. The kitten meowed and rolled onto his back, clearly trying to be as cute as possible. Kimi huffed and grumpily started to clean the little kitten, who whined and tried to wiggle away. Kimi placed a paw on him to keep him in place and continued to clean the baby’s cheeks and ears. 

Nico let out an amused sound and was awarded with a tap of Kimi’s paw against his nose, before the Finn continued to groom the kitten. Guti seemed calm for once, letting out a content sound as he cuddled a little closer to Nico, gazing down on the little kitten. Nico sighed and nuzzled his neck, letting out a soft chuff. 

The moment was broken when Lando wiggled himself out of Kimi’s grasp, spotting Kiwi Brendon walking around the other side of the room. Lando kept close to the ground as he jogged over to the bird, wiggling his bum as he got ready to pounce. 

A fluffy squirrel got in between them, huffing at the little animal.Lando flattened his ears a little and whined. Pierre grumbled some more and led the animal back to Kimi, huffing reprimandingly as Lando still glanced back at the bird. 

A macaroni penguin suddenly made it’s way into the room, flapping his wings and squeaking a little. Lando quickly ran over to him before anyone could stop him, purring and cuddling close in greeting.

Valtteri came into the room after the bird, not in his wolf form for once.

“George, you could have told me penguins were fast.” he sighed. The bird just squeaked in return, before focusing on the little kitten again.

Nando and Stoffel walked in as well. Carlos the meerkat was perched on Stoffel’s shoulder, nibbling the Belgian’s ear as Stoffel wasn’t paying attention to him, kneeling down to let Pierre climb up his arm. Nando was carrying badger Jenson in his arms, the animal sleepily nuzzling Nando’s neck before stretching to lick his jaw.

“Stop it.” Nando chuckled, before almost dropping Jenson when he spotted George.

“What is that?!” he asked incredulously. Stoffel frowned.

“It’s a penguin.” Stoffel told him. “A bird.” he clarified when Nando still looked confused. Nando scoffed and knelt down, putting Jenson on the floor. The badger let out a disgruntled whine and scurried over to the couch, biting and pulling at Stoffel’s jeans until the Belgian followed him 

Nando kneeled down next to George, the penguin awkwardly ruffling his feathers. Lando the kitten tried to get the Spaniard’s attention, but Fernando was just too confused.

“How is it a bird? Does not fly!” he huffed, taking one of George’s wing between his fingers and moving it a little.

George squeaked and waddled away to hide between Valtteri’s legs, the Finn lifting the little animal up with a frown at Fernando.

“Don’t scare George.” he huffed. Fernando folded his arms over his chest.

“Is not a bird.” He still claimed. Just as they continued the discussion, Jev came into the room, the deer calmly gazing around as he throtted in. He didn’t seem to notice the red panda hanging off his antlers, the clumsy animal slowly starting to fail at using Jev as a branch. Jev noticed just in time and lowered his head to safely bring the panda to the red. 

The ball of Ginger fluff curiously looked around the room, before letting out a startled sound as a now very human Jev lifted him up.

“Calm down Andre.” Jev chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of the fluffy animal’s head. Andre huffed but then contently cuddled close. Fernando also seemed baffled by the panda, and quickly knelt down to scoop Lando up.

“I’m glad you’re an actual animal.” he muttered to the little cat, moving over to join the others on the sofa.

~~

Kimi smiled as he entered his hotel room again, Sebastian was in his human form again, as was Charles, the younger man curled close to Seb’s chest as the German gently stroked his hair.

“Sorry about before…” he whispered. Kimi sat down on the edge of the bed, brushing his fingers over Charles’s flushed cheek, winching at how warm it felt.

“He’s feeling a bit better now, thank god.” Seb muttered. Kimi moved to get up again, wanting to give them some space, but Seb caught his wrist.

“Stay.” he muttered. Kimi smiled softly and nodded, moving around the bed to lie down behind Charles, rubbing his back. Charles hummed and groggily opened his eyes, smiling when he saw Kimi, nuzzling his hand a little even though he wasn’t in his puppy form. Kimi chuckled.

“Go back to sleep little pup.” Kimi whispered. “It will make you feel better.”


	6. INSTA ACCOUNT (Not actual update, but leads to more cuteness)

Me and some other amazing peeps have created an instagram account for all things related to this fic!

Atm most of it is pictures of the drivers and their corresponding animals, but it will be a lot of prompts and cuteness that are sometimes too insane to be featured on the actual fic xD

An example (cos I feel bad with so little words in this chapter hehe):

 

Lando *meows *  
Max *pretends to be scared and rolls onto his back *  
Lando: "look mommy I scared the big cat!"  
Kimi "first of all..."

"... careful not to scratch the big cat, second of all... mommy is proud ♥”

Charles (trying to out cute Lando ) *growls at Valtteri *  
Valtteri "... wot"  
Charles * tries again *  
Valtteri "...lemme clean you."

 

Charles, cheerfully singing: if you’re happy and you know it say a ‘meow’!  
Kimi: ...  
Charles: if you’re happy and you know it say a ‘meow’!  
Kimi: ... [2]  
Charles: If you're happy and you know it then you really ought to show it,  
If you're happy and you know it say a ‘meow’b  
Kimi: triple ...  
Lando: MEOW CMON MOMMY SING  
Kimi: dot dot dot  
Lando and Charles: puppy-kitty eyes  
Kimi: .......... meow  
Lando and Charles: snuggle Kimi

 

Sooo yes, it's all insane, but find us on Instagram @pebbleisms :3

Sorry for this not being an actual update, but expect one soon <3

Link to @Pebbleisms: https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?utm_medium=user_system_sheet&utm_campaign=default.ig_ci_landing_site_0621.control&utm_source=ig_contact_invite&utm_content=431l8kj


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN ACTUAL UPDATE *parties*   
> Don't forget to check out our Insta account @pebbleism for behind the scenes and funny prompts :3

Daniel sighed as he made his way to the animal room, pretty sure no one was in there yet. He was tired, and had yet again failed to finish a race, the stupid car giving up on him once more. He set his jaw and wiped a hand over his face. He didn’t want to cry over this anymore. 

He opened the door and let out a yelp when he was immediately met by a chorus of animal noises. A fluffy figure bumped into his legs and climbed up, settling against his chest.

“Checo…” Daniel huffed as the otter squeaked and worriedly licked Daniel’s nose. “I’m okay.” he lied. The otter squeaked some more, continuing to clean Daniel’s nose and cheeks. Daniel sighed and sat down on the ground, making it easier for Checo to do so without his tiny nails digging into Daniel’s chest. The otter continued his soft noises, worriedly pressing his nose against Daniel’s cheek again.

“I’m okay…” Daniel repeated again. He looked up when something rolled against his foot. A tennis ball. Charles the puppy stood next to it, whining softly and nudging it against Daniel’s leg again. 

“You want to play fetch?” Daniel asked tiredly. Charles whimpered some more, placing the ball between Daniel’s feet before climbing onto Daniel’s lap, licking his hand in comfort.

“It’s his favourite tennis ball.” Sebastian explained softly, walking over while gently stroking Valtteri’s fur, the wolf nudging his muzzle against Daniel’s cheek, before curling around him.

Charles let out another soft sound and rolled onto his back, allowing Daniel to pat his tummy, and wagging his tail when the Aussie did so.

A meerkat climbed up Daniel’s arm and nibbled his ear very softly, letting out a squeak as Checo huffed at him.

“Hi Carlos.” Daniel said softly, holding out his hand and letting the small animal climb on. Daniel placed him next to Charles, who excitedly wiggled his bum again and licked the meerkat, who didn’t seem so amused by it.

Daniel had put Carlos down just in time, as a flash of red fur climbed in his neck, whining harshly and licking Daniel’s ear.

“Nando…” Daniel called in exasperation, but still stroked the soft ginger fur, smiling slightly as the fox fussed over him.

A tiny hedgehog sniffed Daniel’s hand, and settled next to him as if he was a little guard dog.

Kimi suddenly came into the room as well, the cat purring contentedly as a tiny kitten pressed close to his side immediately. Kimi spotted Daniel and meowed softly, sauntering over and bumping his head against Daniel’s shoulder, his purring intensifying. Lando cuddled close to him too, although his purs sounded more like asthmatic intakes of breath.

“Thanks.” Daniel mumbled. “And congrats on the win Kimi, you deserved it.” he added. The cat meowed again, settling to curl against Daniel’s side. Lando was immediately climbing all over him, but Kimi caught him and started grooming him, the kitten mewling grumpily. 

“Tough life, huh?” Daniel chuckled, scratching Lando’s chin. The kitten meowed and nuzzled his fingers.

A deer galloped into the room, coming to a sliding halt near Daniel, Andre the panda falling off his antlers in process. Jev the deer let out a hum and nibbed at Daniel’s curls.

“Not grass, Jev.” Daniel chuckled. Jev snorted and continued to nibble.

Brendon the Kiwi wandered over as well, squirrel Pierre walking next to him as a bodyguard, huffing when Lando let out an interested pur. Brendon hopped onto Daniel’s head, walking around a little before settling down in the mass of curls.

“...Also not a nest.” Daniel sighed. Brendon pecked his head in response

Checo let out another squeak and held something out to Daniel.

“....No you can keep your pebble, but thank you.” Daniel said softly. Checo still pressed it into his hand, before resuming his cleaning of Dan’s face.

“Thanks, all of you.” Daniel whispered. He was met by a lot of animal noises and a ‘your welcome’ from Sebastian. 

Kimi let out a surprised ‘pprrtt’ and moved over to curl up against Seb’s chest, the German immediately burying his face in the cat’s soft fur. Lando let out a loud meow and toddled over, followed by Charles, who nudged the little cat and made in faceplant the floor.

“Don’t be jealous, little pup!” Seb scolded. Charles whined grumpily, while Lando tried to lick the pup’s chin. “Both cuddle up.” Seb decided, letting Lando climb onto Kimi while Charles contentedly curled up on the German’s lap.

A lion wearing a cowboy hat suddenly stumbled into the room, chased by a seal, who was making all the grumpy noises possible.

Daniel carefully shook all the animals off him and headed over to the lion, promptly wrapping his arms around the big cat’s neck and cuddling into the soft fur.

“You did well Maxy.” he muttered. Max chuffed and worriedly pressed his nose against Daniel’s shoulder, before turning into his human form to properly hug the Aussie.

“Wanted you up there.” Max muttered. Daniel just sighed. 

The seal nudged them again, giving Max a rather stern look. Max rolled his eyes.

“Christian wants me to tell you that you did really well, and he’s proud of you. And also very sorry.” Max said “As am I.”

Daniel sighed and just hugged Max again.

The moment was broken when Nando, having changed back to his human form, caught sight of the lump of fat called a seal.

 

“...What the fuck is that.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all my amazing fren, who helped me figure out a lot of the animals, and also the *shy moooo* featured in this chapter:3 <3

It was just another, calm animal F1 day. 

Kimi was watching over a tiny, very sleepy kitty who was contently curled against the white cat’s soft fur. Lando purred and mewled as Kimi’s nuzzled him, cleaning his head. 

Charles was rolled on his back. A tennis ball still placed next to him but the pup didn’t pay attention to it, whining sleepily until Seb and Valtteri allowed him to snuggle up in between them, both the wolf and the dog licking and cuddling him until he fell asleep.

Esteban was in his giraffe form, sighing in exaseration as an otter tried to climb up his neck, intent on cleaning the large animal’s nose. Esteban just lowered his head to the ground, Checo sliding off of him with a squeak, but then letting out more happy squeaks as he could reach Este’s nose. 

Nico and Guti were curled up next to them, a mass of spotted fur. Guti was asleep, looking relaxed for once, and Nico was watching over him, while also keeping an eye on their otter.

Lance trudged into the room. There were leaves and grass stuck in the moose’s antlers and he tried to shake them off. A stork walked over to him, letting out a soft noise and hopping onto Lance’s back. Sergey pecked the back of Lance’s neck affectionately before gently starting to remove the twigs with his long beak.

Max was in the far corner of the room, the lion curled around Daniel, the little badger hissing softly even in his sleep. Brendon was perched on Max’s head as well, a little squirrel fussing around next to him a little until Brendon had had enough and promptly sat down on top of little Pierre.

“He’s not an egg.” Marcus sighed as he walked past, a little bunny hopping around his feet. Valtteri walked over to them, pressing against Marcus’s legs and nuzzling Kevin when the rabbit made a grumpy thump.

Jev was in his human form, Andre the panda sleepily hanging on to his chest. Jev whispered softly to him in French, pressing a kiss to the animal’s fluffy face with a tender expression on his face.

Fernando was grinning widely from his place on the floor, sitting cross legged with a badger curled into a ball between his legs, a meerkat perched on his shoulder and a little hedgehog cradled in his hands.

“You like the new oven mitts, Stoffel?” Nando chuckled as the little spike animal contently let him pat him, not afraid of hurting him now. Carlos let out a squeak and ran down Nando’s arm to perch next to Stoffel, gently nuzzling his snout.

The peace was broken when a young, exceptionally fluffy bull came into the room. Max growled and curled tighter around his badger, and Seb let out a grumpy noise too, teeth baring a little.

Carlos let out an excited squeak, jumping from Nando’s hand and clumsily changing back to his human form. He hugged the young bull tightly, pressing his face into the animals neck.

“Daniil…” Carlos whispered, sniffling as he pressed close to him. The bull let out a soft “mooo” and licked the side of Carlos’s face.

Max growled as Daniel got up to greet the Russian as well, and quickly slid the honey badger back towards him with one large paw. Daniel hissed and bit him, causing Max to snarl but also to let go of him.

Daniil changed back to his human form, but still Carlos refused to let go of him. He smiled slightly when Daniel climbed up against his kneeled form, but seemed uncomfortable otherwise. 

“I-I’m sorry, I better go.” Daniil murmured, glancing at Max, who was still growling at him, licking his muzzle in a very predator like way, and Seb, who was pointedly ignoring him and grooming his little puppy.

“No.” Carlos said stubbornly, glaring at Max. “If you go, I go.” he then told Daniil. Max flicked his ears uncomfortable and got up, Pierre and Brendon sliding off him with soft squeaks.

The lion sauntered over, making Daniil tense up even more. Max chuffed and pressed his nose against Carlos’s head, but the Spaniard pushed him away.

“Not gonna be nice to you if you’re being an ass to Dany.” Carlos huffed. Max flicked his ears uncomfortable, laying down when Daniel also hissed at him. Max whined but the others didn’t react, Daniil hiding his face in the crook of Carlos’s neck 

Max huffed and scooted closer, flicking his tail before leaning in and licking Daniil’s cheek. Daniil hummed in surprise but then tentatively pressed a hand to Max’s soft mane, smiling lightly when the big cat purred and rolled onto his side. 

Carlos grinned and cuddled up against Max’s side, pulling Daniil with him. Dan the badger laid down on Max’s head, between the lion’s ears, making everyone chuckle.

Sergio scurried over and climbed up against Daniil’s chest, eying him for a moment.

“H-hello Checo…” Daniil said nervously. Checo squeaked happily, starting to clean Daniil’s face. Carlos chuckled at Dany’s grimace and patted the Russian’s cheek affectionately.

“You’re officially a pebble now.”


	9. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to follow @pebbleisms on Instagram for more animal cuteness and BTS!!

Lando whined and trashed around on the bed, letting out a sob. Kimi heard it from the room next door, and quickly headed to the young man’s room in his cat form. He meowed softly as he saw Lando’s heaving chest. 

He jumped on the bed just as Lando sat up with a gasp. Kimi meowed immediately, tapping his paw against Lando’s hand before bumping his head against Lando’s arm.

“Kimi…” Lando whimpered. Kimi purred loudly , moving onto Lando’s lap and standing up against Lando’s chest, pushing until Lando laid back down.

“S-sorry…” Lando hiccuped. Kimi let out a soft sound and licked Lando’s nose until the boy giggled softly. Lando breathed out shakily, patting Kimi’s soft fur. 

Kimi curled up onto his chest, purring comfortingly as he kept his paw pressed against Lando’s cheek. 

Lando slowly dozed off again, yawning before cuddling Kimi closer. Kimi watched over him for quite some time, making sure the nightmare didn’t return.

In the end, he decided to stay with Lando, wanting to keep an eye on his little kitten. He let out another last pur, before closing his eyes and falling asleep as well.

~~~

Guti drew in a sharp breath as he sat up on his bed, his shirt sticking to his back with sweat, and his heart beating so hard it was all he could hear.

A soft squeak drew his attention, and he let out a soft sob as Checo climbed on his lap, the otter cuddling close and nuzzling his cheek

“I-I’m okay…” Esteban said softly, but he still let out a sob. Checo squeaked again, starting to lick Esteban’s neck and jaw, but the Mexican didn’t really calm down. Checo let out a worried sound, pressed his nose against Guti’s pulse, and then scurried off. 

Esteban sobbed softly as he curled onto his side, his arms wrapped around himself, and yelped when something big and heavy jumped on the bed. A chuff calmed him slightly and Guti turned to cuddle close to Nico, the leopard securely curling around him. 

“I-I’m sorry…” Guti sobbed, pressing his face in Nico’s neck. He smiled slightly when Checo had returned as well, the otter licking the tears of his cheeks. 

“Did not mean to worry you two.” Guti whispered, pressing his face in Nico’s neck as he cradled Checo close to his chest. Nico chuffed and nuzzled his cheek some more, tugging at Guti’s arm until the Mexican laid back down, his head resting on Nico’s furry side while Checo stayed cuddled against his chest.

Checo squeaked a little and pressed his favourite pebble into Guti’s hand, letting out a chirp when Esteban looks confused.

“Thank you.” Esteban eventually whispered, pressing a kiss to Checo’s head and contenly closing his eyes, Nico’s chuffs and Checo’s squeaks slowly lulling him to sleep..

~~

Marcus couldn’t breathe when he woke up, a sob stuck in his throat. Something warm and fluffy was curled on his chest, soft paws pressing against his neck. 

“Kevin…” Marcus sobbed, hugging the rabbit close. Kevin sniffed his cheek, before pressing his nose against Marcus’s. Marcus tried to catch his breath while patting Kevin’s ears. Kevin hopped a little closer, nibbling at Marcus’s chin.

“I-I’m okay darling.” Marcus whispered. Kevin huffed, his ears wiggling a little. Marcus buried his face in the exceptionally soft white fur. 

“Didn’t mean to wake you.” Marcus muttered. Kevin just looked at him, his little bunny nose wobbling and making Marcus smile. “You’re so adorable.” Marcus sighed, causing Kevin to huff and grumpily shuffle back a little.

“I love you, little bunny.” Marcus chuckled, nightmare long forgotten. Kevin contently nuzzled his hand before sitting back on his back legs and starting to wash his little head and ears. Marcus tried not to die of cuteness, grinning at the little animal.

Kevin huffed and hopped off him before turning back to his human form. 

“Thought you had a nightmare, seem to have forgotten about it already.” Kevin muttered grumpily as he cuddled into Marcus’s side. Marcus drew him into a kiss.

“How can I think about some stupid nightmare when my little snuggle bunny is being so adorable.” he teased. Kevin grumbled something in Danish but then sighed.

“Glad you’re feeling better.” he mumbled. Marcus kissed his cheek, bringing the smaller man closer to his chest.

“Thanks for comforting me.”

~~~~

“Charles? Charles wake up…” Pierre tried, gently patting the little puppy curled into his side. Charles was whimpering, his little legs twitching a little as he whined and tried to push Pierre away.

“Charles…” Pierre tried again. The puppy let out a high pitched noise but then woke up. Pierre lifted the little animal into his arms immediately, letting Charles snuggle close to his chest. 

The little pup was still shivering and whimpering as he hid his head under Pierre’s arm. Pierre kissed the top of Charles’s little head.

“I’ve got you, mon petit.” Pierre muttered. Charles whined and looked up at the Frenchman, his puppy eyes even bigger than usual. The little dog whined but calmed slowly as Pierre cuddled him close.

“I love you, my little pup, I’ve got you, you’re safe.” Pierre whispered, laying back down on the bed with the little pup on his chest. Charles yawned a little, letting out a soft noise and licking Pierre’s cheek in thanks.

 

“Sleep, I’ll keep you safe.” And Charles sighed and closed his eyes, feeling secure in Pierre’s arms.

~~~~

Max gasped and burst out of the hotel, needing fresh arm to calm down from his rather terrifying nightmare. He was shaking, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the cool air pushing through the thin material of his shirt or from the scare itself. 

He yelped when a wolf brushed against his legs, worriedly nudging Max’s hand.

“Valtteri…” Max breathed out, pressing a hand to the soft fur, the feeling grounding him.

Valtteri made a soft noise and took a few steps back to the hotel, teeth gently pulling on Max’s sleeve. Max let out a sigh and followed after him. 

Valtteri walked to the elevator and then curiously looked up at Max, who nodded and pressed the button to his floor. It was remarkable that Valtteri wasn’t changing back, but at the same time Max was glad. It was easier for him to be ‘weak’ around the wolf than around the actual Finn. 

In his hotel room, Max sat down on the bed, awkwardly tugging at a loose strand on his sleeve. He smiled slightly when Valtteri jumped onto the bed, huffing and licking Max’s cheek a little.

“Stop it.” Max chuckled, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Valtteri’s ears perked up at that and he tugged at the Dutchman’s sleeve again until Max laid down properly. The wolf rested his head on Max’s stomach, allowing the younger man to wrap his arms around him.

Max closed his eyes and yawned sleepily, rubbing at his eyes before groggily grabbing on to Valtteri’s ear and promptly falling asleep. 

Valtteri wasn’t exactly comfortable, but Max soft, deep breaths were enough to make it worth it. The wolf watched over the young man the whole nights, licking Max’s hand and whining as Max threatened to get a bad dream again. 

It worked wonders and Max didn’t wake up, staying contently cuddled into the soft fur as his guardian watched over him.


	10. Guti the Feeder

Guti hummed under his breath as he walked over to the animal room, pushing a cart of food in front of him. As he entered the Animal room, there were quick a few excited squeaks in greeting, which surprised Guti slightly.

“Hello.” Este greeted a little shyly.

Checo was the first to greet him, the otter excitedly running and rubbing around his leg before settling on his foot, tiny nails digging into Guti’s pant leg. Esteban smiled and didn’t push him away, shuffling forwards with some difficulty. 

“Here.” Esteban said softly, kneeling down slightly and giving the otter a piece of salmon. Checo grabbed it and immediately scurried off with it, curling up in one of the corners to happily munch away.

Guti smiled and looked around the room. He spotted Valtteri in the corner, the wolf curled around a tiny, squeaky penguin that kept trying to wiggle away as Valtteri cleaned him. Guti walked over and knelt down next to them. George the penguin let out another squeak and tried to hide between Valtteri’s paws, but the wolf gently nudged him forward towards the Mexican. 

“Hola little one.” Guti murmured, reaching out to gently pat the little one. George squeaked but didn’t move away this time. 

“Are you hungry?” Guti asked him reaching for his cart. The little penguin squeaked and now enthusiastically hopped onto Guti’s knee. 

“You don’t like fish, mhm?” Guti asked thoughtfully. George seemed a little bashful but shook his little head. “How about…. some watermelon.” Guti said with a grin, taking out a small plastic tub. George squeaked and ruffled his feather, pecking at the little box already. 

Valtteri had meanwhile turned back to his human form and took the box from Guti as the Mexican held it out to him. 

“Hungry little thing.” Valtteri chuckled as George rushed towards him now. 

“Cute.” Guti giggled, patting Valtteri’s cheek and handing him a box of liquorice before scurrying off again. 

He walked over to Ferando next, who was, as usual, covered in little animals.

“Hola.” the Spaniard greeted Guti gently, the Mexican blushing slightly and starting to sort through his food.

“Some pine nuts for Pierre.” he started. The little squirrel climbed up his arm immediately, nibbling at Guti’s ear for a moment in thanks before grabbing the little bag and rushing off. Carlos immediately tried to climb up against Guti, squeaking and whining until he got a gentle head scratch.

“Crisps with chili flavour…” Guti muttered, putting a few on the floor and smiling when Carlos immediately started nibbling on them.

Stoffel the hedgehog shyly came over to him, nudging his foot a little. Guti scooped him up in his hands, ringing him closer to his face and letting Stoffel sniff at his nose.

“Waffles?” he asked the little spiky animal. Stoffel enthusiastically nuzzled him in return. Guti placed him onto a plate with the waffle, watching the animal greedily start to eat it. 

“You’re the best.” Nando mumbled as Guti handed him a box with spareribs.

“Share with Jenson when he comes back, okay?” Guti told him as he straightened up. Nando was already shoving the first piece of meat in his mouth and nodded innocently.

“Of course.” he said. Guti sighed, doubting he would, but moved on.

Charles greeted him with lots of puppy kisses, cuddling close to his chest. Guti grinned and kissed the top of the little pup’s head.

“How about a bone for you mhm?” Guti cooed, handing him the snack before handing a larger version to Seb, who was watching over the pup. Charles immediately grumbled and curled up between Seb’s paws, munching on his bone while trying to sneak bites of Seb’s snack too.

Guti let out a startled yelp as something black flew passed him, followed by a raccoon who stood up against his lap. The something black, which turned out to be a very cute looking fruit bat, turned back into his human form.

“Hello, I’m Jack.” the young man introduced himself awkwardly. Guti gave him a soft smile.

“Do you want some grapes, Jack?” he asked. Jack gasped and nodded with wide eyes, thanking Guti more than once when the Mexican handed him a box of his beloved grapes. 

“And these, for Jolyon.” Guti said, handing him a box of chocolate chip cookies as he eyed the impatient raccoon scurrying around his feet.

He continued on, walking over to Marcus and Kevin, the little rabbit curled on the Swede’s lap as always. Guti handed Marcus a box of cookies as well, making the Swede grin, before reaching out to pat Kevin. The bunny let out a grumpy noise and shuffled away, startling Guti slightly.

“Kevin… It’s Esteban…” Marcus told him softly. The bunny looked up and let out a soft noise when he saw the Mexican, gently nuzzling his hand.

“Here sweetie.” Este cooed, handing him a piece of carrot. kevin nuzzled his hand some more before contently nibbling on the piece of vegetable. 

The last Guti went to where Kimi and Lando. He put down a small bowl of milk for Kimi, the white cat untangling himself from the baby and cuddling close to him, purring loudly. Guti patted his soft fur before directing Kimi to the bowl of milk, smiling as the cat immediately started to lap the milk up. Little Lando woke up from the lack of contact from Kimi and the smell of milk. He clumsily startled to lap at the milk as well, getting it all over his face. Kimi let out a grumpy noise but didn’t push him away, letting Lando share with him. Guti added some more to the bowl before getting up, contently looking around the room.

“Este…” Nico called out suddenly. Guti turned to look at the German, who had just entered the room with a paper box in his hand.

“I brought you cupcakes, you deserve them.” Nico whispered as Guti shyly cuddled into his side. Guti looked at the four pastries and then looked up at Nico with a questioning look. The German rolled his eyes with a chuckle, leaning in to kiss his temple.

“Yes, I’ll share them with you.”


	11. 3 times Kimi collected kittens + 1 time he was the kitten

1.

Kimi sauntered into the animal room, letting out a pur and bumping into Seb’s leg for a moment as he passed the German on the way in. 

He saw down in one of the corners, contently cleaning his paws and tail. 

Something small bumped into him, cuddling close. Kimi blinked in surprise and saw the tiny kitten had yet again attached to his side. Lando meowed softly, nuzzling Kimi a little. 

Kimi flicked his ears for a moment, unsure what to do, but then laid down, the kitten curling up between his front paws. Kimi watched him for a moment, the kitten rolling onto his back and stretching out contently. 

There was a spot of dirt on his light coat of fur and Kimi huffed, starting to groom him while grumbling softly. Lando let out a surprised noise but then let him, in turn awkwardly curling in such way that he could lick Kimi’s cheek.

Sebastian walked over to them, reaching out to pat Lando, but Kimi grumbled and tapped his hand. 

“Okay.” Seb chuckled. “Won’t touch your kitten.” Kimi huffed and nuzzled his fingers for a moment before curling himself around Lando some more.

Yes. His kitten.

 

2.

Kimi glanced over to where Max was grumpily nudging Daniel, the Aussie asleep and not able to cuddle the needy lion.

Kimi got up and sauntered over, tapping his paw against Max’s nose to get his attention. Max flicked his ears a little when he saw Kimi, unsure what to think.The white cat purred and nuzzled Max’s cheek slightly before moving away slightly, repeating the movement until Max followed after him. 

Kimi sauntered back to where Lando was curled up in the corner, the little kitten mewling happily as his mommy walked over. Max laid down next to them, seeming a little unsure about what was going on. Kimi turned back into his human form and sat back against the wall.

“Come here.” he grumbled to Max, while picking up Lando and setting him on his chest. Max tentatively laid his head down on Kimi’s lap, letting out a soff chuff as Kimi patted his mane. The large cat stretched out contently, paws kneading in the air as if he was really a tiny kitten. Kimi smiled slightly, placing Lando on Max’s mane and chuckling as the kitten contently snuggled in to the warmth. 

Two kittens. That was enough right?

~~  
3.  
The next day, cat-KImi was curled up in the corner of the animal room, Lando playfully running back and forth over Max’s back while the Dutchman tried to shrug him off. Kimi let out a soft sound and the two immediately stopped, Lando curling up against Kimi’s fluffy side while Max tried to gently nuzzle him, only to slide the cat backwards. 

Max huffed sadly, laying down a little further away, but Kimi stretched to curl against on of the lion’s front paw, grooming the fur he could reach.

A soft chuff startled him, and Kimi turned to see Nico and Guti heading over to them, the latter anxiously pressed close to the leopard. Kimi let out a soft ‘mrrpphtt’ and stood up, flicking his ears as he tried to come up with a way to also hug the other cats. He first headed over to Guti, meowing before curling around his paws, purring softly, He also nudged Nico for a moment, before walking back to Max and hopping onto his back. 

Lando tried to follow after him but struggled a little with the hight. Guti came forward and gave him a gentle nudge under his bum to help him up. NIco had already lied down, his head resting on Max’s flank as Kimi grumpily tried to clear the fur on his cheeks.

Guti was more hesitant, but quickly cuddled up with them as Kimi let out another soft meow. Nico nudged the cheetah playfully, curling around him as they both rested their heads on Max now, the lion seeming content enough with all the attention

Sebastian walked into the room and huffed when he saw the pile of cats.

“4 kittens?” he asked amusedly. Kimi just hissed at him, and Seb knew he would have flipped him off had he been in his human form.

~~  
+1  
Kimi was awakened from his nap by a grumpy meow and someone trying to groom the fur between his ears. He opened his eyes and came face to face with a Persian cat he knew all too well.

Maurizio grumbled at him before continuing to clean the fur. Kimi hissed half-heartedly and tried to push him away, but a sharp tap to his nose told him to lay still. KImi flicked his ears uncomfortable but slowly found himself realizing as Maurizio continued to clean and nuzzle him gently.

He purred softly as Maurizio protectively curled around him a little, glaring at anyone who passed by. 

Lando walked over, in his human form, and eyes the two a little hesitantly. Kimi sleepily looked over at him and meowed, stretching his paws out towards the young Brit. Lando took the hint and turned into his kitten form, clambering over to them and curling up against Kimi as usual. Maurizio sniffed him for a moment, and then awarded him with a lick to his tiny head. 

It didn’t take long before also Max, Nico and Guti wandered over to them, all given a gentle nuzzle by Maurizio as they curled around Kimi

Sebastian walked into the room, snorting when he spotted them.

“I thought you were the one to collect kittens. “ he told Kimi, who lazily opened one eye to look at him. Sebastian chuckled before continuing. “Didn’t know you were a kitten yourself.”

The hisses and growls (and the little asthmatic pur from Lando) were all the answers he needed.


	12. Kitty trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big love to all my pebble fren <3 <3

It all started with the goldfish in the Mclaren hospitality. Lando was completely mesmerized by it, the little kitten often sitting in front of the aquarium and patting at the glass, although the fish was not at all bothered by the little ‘predator’ watching him.

“Lando! There you are!” Carlos sighed, walking over and lifting the little animal up. Lando meowed and wiggled around as Carlos held him against his chest, the kitten’s eyes still glued to the aquarium. “Kimi was looking for you.” Carlos added, absentmindedly scratching Lando’s tiny head. Lando let out a soft ‘mrrphht’, standing up against Carlos’s chest with two paws and cocking his head to the side.

“Yes, your mommy.” Carlos sighed. Lando purred softly, nuzzling Carlos’s cheek as the Spaniard carried the kitten out of the hospitality. Kimi was already waiting for him, Guti the cheetah sitting next to him, eyes closed as Kimi scratched his head. 

“Hello Lando.” Kimi muttered. “I thought you knew it was cat bonding night.” he added. Lando purred, stretching his front paws out towards the Finn. Carlos quickly handed him over to Kimi, the kitten nuzzling the Spaniard’s fingers one last time before cuddling into Kimi’s chest. 

Hulk walked over as well, the leopard playfully pouncing against Carlos’s back to make him stumble.

“Glad you’re not my teammate anymore.” Carlos huffed at him, but he quickly knelt down to let Hulk cuddle into him, the leopard chuffing and licking his cheek affectionately. Carlos was toppled over when an even heavier figure bumped into him.

“Oh for fuck’s sake Max!” Carlos exclaimed as he scrambled up again. The lion hung his head, sadly peeking up at him. Carlos pursed his lips and reached out to pat Max’s mane.

“Idiot.” Carlos grumbled, but he was smiling. Hulk had meanwhile wandered over to Guti, nuzzling into the other big cat as the Mexican let out a surprised huf. 

“Oh by the way.” Carlos said to Kimi. “Lando keeps trying to catch Papaya the goldfish, they had to get him out of the aquarium four times already this week.” he explained. Lando gave him the most betrayed look a kitten could muster. Kimi rolled his eyes.

“I’ll talk to him.” he promised, turning around to walk away. 

All the cats stilled as they spotted Christian in the distance, the seal happily chilling in a blow up pool outside of the Red Bull hospitality. Lando let out a meow, wiggling around impatiently until he could hop out of Kimi’s arms, staying low to the ground as he eyed the seal. 

“Oh fuck…” Carlos muttered as he saw Max do the same, the lion’s tail swishing as he let out a low grumble. Guti and Hulk came up on either side of the two cats, mimicking their poses.

“No no no, Christian is not a fish! Guys, please!” Carlos tried desperately. “Kimi help!” he turned to look at the Finn, but where the man had once stood, a white cat was eying the seal intently. 

“Shit!” Carlos gasped as the cats started nearing the Red Bull hospitality. Pierre and Daniel just came heading their way, both looking confused.

“Save Christian!” Carlos yelled, running after the cats. Daniel took one look between the Spaniard, the cats, and the seal in the pool next to him, his eyes widened, and he braced himself.

“Oh fu-” 

"MEOW"


	13. Changes Part I

“Max, stop it, please.” Daniel sighed. He balanced his bags in one arm, while trying to swat at the lion’s muzzle with the other. Max whined and took the edge of Dan’s sleeve between his teeth, pulling him back towards the Red Bull hospitality. 

Daniel pulled the other way, towards his car, which resulted in a loud ripping sound.

Daniel sighed as he looked at his sleeve, most of it now ripped off and between Max’s jaws.

“I need to go, Max.” Dan said, before turning on his heel and rushing to his car, not wanting Max to see the tears in his eyes.

He had only barely closed the car door behind him when Max bumped into the car with a loud thud. The lion stood up against the side of the car, pressing his nose against the glass as he continued to whine and whimper.

“Max…” Dan sighed. Max lowered himself back onto the floor, his whimpered still heard through the door. Daniel let out a shaky breath, but then opened the door, stepping out. 

Max, already halfway back to the hospitality, turned and let out a soft noise.

“Come here.” Dan whispered, kneeling on the ground. Max jogged over immediately, whimpering as he cuddled into Dan. Dan buried his face in the lion’s mane, breathing deeply as he tried to calm himself down. 

Max let out a chuff, nuzzling Dan’s cheek, before turning back into his human form.

Daniel adjusted his arms a little, bringing the younger man close.

“It will be okay.” he whispered. And he so hoped that was true.

~~

Charles the puppy whimpered anxiously, dropping a tennis ball into Marcus’s lap. The Swede moved to throw it away again, but the moment Marcus lifted his arm, Charles quickly scrambled onto Marcus’s, rolling onto his back to show his tummy. His tail was wagging but he was also whimpering, licking at Marcus’s hand.

“I know…” Marcus whispered, lifting the puppy until it could rest against his chest, Charles licking Marcus’s chin instantly. 

A white ball of fluff hopped onto Marcus’s stomach, cuddling up against his stomach. Marcus chuckled.

“Hello Kevin.” he greeted, gently brushing his fingers over the bunny’s fluffy ears. Kevin nuzzled the digits lightly, before sniffing at Charles, the pup’s enthusiastic tail wagging hitting him in the face and making him let out a grumpy noise.

“Come here silly.” Marcus sighed, lifting Kevin more onto his chest as well. Kevin snuggling into Charles’s side a little, licking the pup’s snoot before both looked at Marcus with mirrored wide, sad eyes. Marcus closed his eyes, cuddling close to them.

“I’ll miss you too.”

~~~~

Lance worried his lip between his teeth as he stood in front of Sergey’s driver room. He slowly pushed the door open, peeking around the corner. Sergey heard him come in, the stork getting up from where he had been cuddled into the blanket nest he had created in the corner of the room.

Lance walked over, sniffling slightly as he knelt down next to him. The stork leaned in, beak tugging at some strands of Lance’s hair to put them back in place more. Lance let out a shaky chuckle, gently brushing his fingers over Sergey’s soft wings.

“Will miss you.” Lance whispered. Sergey let out a soft squeak, booping his beak against the tip of Lance’s nose. Lance smiled, hugging the tall bird close. Sergey squeaked, pecking at Lance’s shoulder until the Canadian loosened his grip slightly. 

Sergey turned back in his human form, huffing as Lance instantly tightened his grip again.

“I need to breathe, Lance.” Sergey murmured. Lance let out a shaky breath, loosening his grip again. 

“This all sucks.” he whispered, resting his head on Sergey’s shoulder. Sergey sighed and pressed a kiss to Lance’s cheek.

“I agree, my silly moose, I completely agree.”

~~

Kimi purred softly as Sebastian cuddled him into his arms, the German letting out a shaky breath as he hugged the cat close.

“I’ll miss you so much.” he whimpered. Kimi let out a soft meow, bumping his head against Sebastian’s chin. Seb chuckled, running his fingers over the cat’s fluffy cheek.

“You’re the best teammate I’ve ever had.” Sebastian whispered, placing Kimi back on the floor. Kimi let out a noise in protest, but quieted down again as Seb turned into his dog form.

The Golden Retriever layed down on the floor, whining softly. Kimi instantly cuddled into Seb’s side, his purring increasing again as Seb curled around him.

Kimi meowed before starting to groom the fur on Seb’s cheek, the dog contently closing his eyes.

Changes were never easy, but they would get through it, they were certain.


	14. Jules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my pebbles <3
> 
> It was very difficult to write this, and I hope I did it justice
> 
> #ForzaJules

_“Jules! Jules, fly!” Charles giggled as he ran over to where Jules was sitting cross legged on the floor of the patio. Jules chuckled amd allowed the young boy to clamber onto his lap._

_“Again? Don’t you ever get enough of flying?” Jules teased, hugging the boy close. Charles contently cuddled against him, clearly getting a little distracted as Jules rubbed his back._

_“Wanna fly Jules! S’il vous plait!” he squeaked out after a moment. Jules smiled and pressed a kiss to the boy’s round cheek._

_“Very well then.” he answered, placing Charles on the floor and getting up. He walked over to get a sling with a pouch, handing it to Charles for a moment_

_Charles giggled excitedly as Jules changed into his animal form, the majestic eagle spreading and stretching his wings for a moment before gently nudging Charles with his beak._

_Charles’s tongue peeked out from his lips as he concentrated on changing too. Jules ruffled his feathers a little when a tiny labrador puppy excitedly bounded around him._

_Charles nuzzled his nose against Jules’s beak for a moment, before climbing into the pouch and barking in excitement. Jules grabbed the sling with his claws, making sure he was holding it securely before pushing off into the air._

_He stayed close to the ground, the bottom of the pouch only a few centimetres in the air. Charles still barked excitedly, tail wagging. After a few metres, Jules gently lowered Charles onto the floor again, letting go of the pouch and turning back into his human form._

_Charles turned back as well, climbing back on Jules’s lap again._

_“Love you Jules.” he muttered contently as Jules wrapped his arms around him. Jules smiled, bringing the small boy close._

_“I love you too, my little pup.” ___

__~~_ _

__Charles sat back on the small sofa in his driver room, rubbing at his eyes a little. He let out a surprised sound when a small monkey suddenly ran into the room, dragging bright blue fabric behind him. The baby Mangabey monkey climbed onto the sofa too, before turning back into his human form._ _

__“Arthur! Didn’t know you were here.” Charles chuckled, hugging his younger brother tightly. Arthur smiled, before reaching back to grab the fabric._ _

__“I had to show you what I found!” he said excitedly, holding out the fabric. Charles paled when he saw what it was and promptly stood up, eyes wide as he stared at the pouch. Arthur’s smile fell a little._ _

__“C-charles..?” he whispered softly, standing up. Charles bottom lip trembled, but he reached out to take the pouch from Arthur, bringing the fabric close to his chest. Arthur worriedly stepped closer._ _

__“Am sorry, Charles, I shouldn’t have…” he whispered. Charles wiped at his eyes but then held out his arms to his little brother again. Arthur cuddled against him, now sniffling softly as well._ _

__“I miss him too.” he whispered. Charles tightened his hold a little, a small sob breaking through his throat._ _

__“I just wish he was still here.” he muttered shakily._ _

__Arthur stayed in his hug for another moment, before slowly pulling away._ _

__“Need to go.” he whispered. Charles nodded, wiping the last tears of his cheeks._ _

__“I’ll see you later.” he said._ _

__“Do you want me to take this with me?” Arthur asked, reaching for the pouch. Charles shook his head._ _

__“I’ll keep it.”_ _

__~~_ _

__“M-marcus?” a soft voice woke the Swede from his rather comfortable nap on the sofa in the animal room. He opened his eyes to see Charles looking down on his with red rimmed eyes._ _

__“What happened?” Marcus asked immediately, sitting up instantly. He startled Kevin with the movement, the bunny almost flopping off Marcus’s lap. Charles steadied him quickly, patting the long ears hesitantly as he sat down_ _

__“I eh… no nevermind, is a silly question…” he whispered. Marcus caught his wrist, eyes falling to the bundled up fabric in Charles’s hands._ _

__“What is that?” he asked softly. Charles’s face scrunched up immediately, his bottom lip trembling all over again. Kevin hopped onto his lap instantly, standing on his hind legs to boop his snoot against Charles’s nose. A weak smile came to Charles’s lips._ _

__“Jules used to always carry this with him. It was so he could fly me around in it, I used to love it when I was little.” Charles explained in a hushed voice. Marcus wrapped an arm around Charles’s shoulders, pulling him closer as the young man sighed shakily. They both stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at the soft fabric. Kevin hopped over to Marcus’s side and gently nudged the Swede’s hand until it touched the fabric too. Marcus understood the hint, and turned to Charles._ _

__“I know it will never be the same, but if you want… I can fly you?” he said softly. Charles looked up at him, blue eyes filled with tears._ _

__“Please…” he whispered. Marcus slowly got up, ruffling Charles’s hair before changing into his owl form He seemed a little uneasy as he experimentally moved his wings, but was clearly determined to do this. Charles changed into his puppy form, grabbing the pouch and dragging it closer to the owl. He nuzzled Marcus slightly for a moment, before climbing into the pouch._ _

__Marcus grabbed the sling with his claws, worriedly glancing down at the pup as Charles whined softly. He took off as carefully as he could, trying to keep the pouch steady as he slowly flew around the room._ _

__When Charles’s whines increased a little, he lowered the pouch back onto the floor, quickly changing back into his human form. Charles did too, falling into Marcus’s arms as he started to sob brokenly._ _

__“I know sweetheart, I know.” Marcus whispered, rubbing Charles’s back. Charles buried his face in the crook of Marcus’s neck._ _

__“I miss him so much.’ he sobbed out. Marcus closed his eyes, pressing a kiss to Charles’s temple._ _

__“I know.” he answered, gently rocking the younger man. Charles looked up at him, the pouch still clutched tightly to his chest. He gave Marcus a shaky smile, leaning in to kiss his cheek._ _

__“Thank you.” he whispered. “I know how much you hate flying. You didn’t have to do this.” he muttered. Marcus smiled back, gently wiping some tears of Charles’s cheeks._ _

__‘For you, I’ll fly any time.”_ _


	15. Press conference

Lando meowed anxiously, trying to climb against Kimi’s pant leg. Kimi sighed and lifted the tiny kitten up, scratching the his chin.

“You’ll be fine, Lando.” Kimi sighed. The kitten didn’t seem so sure, trembling a little as it nuzzled against Kimi’s fingers.

Valtteri walked over with something wrapped into a baby blue blanket, something which was squeaking softly and wiggling around a little.

“I see Lando is just as excited about this as George?” Valtteri sighed. A tiny penguin poked its head from the blankets, worriedly pecking at Valtteri’s fingers.

“It’s okay George, I’ve got you.” the Finn soothed quickly, letting the small bird press closer.

“How do they expect to do a press conference if the drivers they plan on interviewing all refuse to turn back to their human forms?” Kimi huffed. 

“Yeah I have no clue… Also why is Charles included in the rookies?” Sebastian grumbled behind them, Charles the pup fast asleep in his arms, ears twitching slightly. 

“Morning.” a soft voice called out behind them. Dany walked over slowly, something fluffy and wobbly trying to hide behind his legs. Lando let out a soft meow in greeting when Alex the baby bison peeked around Dany’s legs. Alex let out a frightened moo in answer, bumping his head into Dany’s legs. 

“It’s okay.” Daniil soothed, kneeling down to let the small animal snuggle close. 

“Well this is gonna go well.” Valtteri sighed, before walking into the room to set George down on the desk. The little penguin tried to waddle after him, but the desk was too high for him to jump off.

“It will be fine, just change back George.” Valtteri sighed. The penguin firmly shook his head, making Val sigh.

“You know what, they are just gonna have to interview a penguin then.” Val muttered, gently brushing his fingers over George’s head. George flapped his wings a little, squeaking nervously.

He calmed slightly as Kimi placed Lando on the table next to him, the little kitten purring softly and attempting to groom George’s feathers a little. 

Charles was still asleep as Sebastian placed him next to the other two, the puppy whining softly as Seb let go of him before stretching a little, slowly opening his eyes. Sebastian handed him a rubber toy shaped like a bone, and Charles contently started to chew on it, the squeaky sounds coming from it making Kimi’s eye twitch.

Daniil placed Alex on the desk as well, the little bison’s hoofs slipping on the surface and making him flop down, legs sprawled to the sides. 

“Well this is going to be a disaster.” Kimi sighed as they all walked back to the side of the little stage and watched the animals still wobbling around on the desk. 

Charles was still chewing on the toy, back legs sprawled behind him and his tail wagging happily. George was startled by all the people watching him and was attempting to cover his eyes with his with little flippers. Lando had found a small piece of string and was patting it around a little, tail swishing as he tried to pounce on it. Alex had given up on attempting to get back on his hooves, and was mooing softly, clearly not happy about all of this.

“...I can’t look at this.” Sebastian sighed. 

“Me neither.” Daniil muttered, uncomfortably hopping from one foot to the other as Alex called for him again, brown eyes sad as he mooed at the Russian. 

Kimi was the first to give in. Lando had slipped of the desk chasing the piece of string, and was now sitting in front of the desk, meowing sadly. Kimi turned into his cat form and ran over, curling around the kitten as he soothingly groomed the little one’s snoot, ignoring the cameras flashing around them. 

Valtteri walked over to lift all the other animals off of the desk too, Seb the golden retriever playfully tugging the toy bone out of Charles’s mouth and making him jump after it. 

Little bison Alex instantly hid behind his teammate, Daniil the bull nuzzling him gently in an attempt to calm him down. Alex still wobbled a little on his legs, but Dany made sure the smaller calf didn’t fall over as they walked away. 

Valtteri was feeding little George a few pieces of watermelon, meanwhile keeping an eye on Kimi and Seb and their little ones as well.

They all wandered off eventually, leaving the press behind without having answered a single question.

~~

When Fernando saw the videos of the press conference the day after, the Spaniard was more than exasperated and immediately booked a flight to the circuit as well.

It was clear the driver zoo needed him.


	16. The wolf and the pup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The race gave me feelings and since Val and Seb interacted so much this weekend, he plays a big rule in this too :3

Charles let out a happy little bark and bounded over to the large white wolf in the corner of the room, growling playfully and japping at Val’s muzzle as he did often. Valtteri, although much bigger than the little pup, often agreed to playfight with the little labrador, nudging and pushing Charles around a little until either Seb or Kimi came to retrieve the little animal.

But today, instead of his usual careful nudges, Valtteri turned and growled sharply at the pup the moment Charles nudged his paw, rge wolf baring his teeth at the pup Charles pressed close to the floor instantly, whining in fright as he glanced up at Valtteri with wide eyes. The wolf stumbled back a little, seeming the most surprised out of the two of them.

Valtteri leaned in to nuzzle the pup in apology, but Seb was already in between them, growling angrily at the bigger animal as he let Charles cuddle against him for comfort. Kimi toddled over too, the cat meowing softly and licking Charles’s head a little, before worriedly stepping closer to his fellow Finn. Valtteri huffed and jerked away,his ears flicking uncomfortably. Kimi quickly changed back into his human form, placing a hand just behind Val’s ear and scratching the fur gently.

“What’s wrong.” He asked. Valtteri whimpered, still looking at the shaking pup pressed into Seb’s side. He hung his head, sighing deeply, before stepping back, letting out a soft howl before running out of the room.

Charles let out a soft bark, making to move after the wolf, but then opted to climb onto Kimi’s lap instead, whining in confusion.

“I don’t know either…” Kimi muttered, gently allowing the young animal to cuddle close. Seb nudged Kimi’s shoulder, making to move to the door. 

“Let him be for a while…” Kimi said, brushing his fingers over Seb’s soft ear. A clumsy lion half slid; half ran into the room, growling worriedly as he looked around the room.

“Max...Max!” Kimi called. Max snapped his head up, and instantly jogged over, chuffing anxiously but closing his eyes when Kimi scratched his mane. Max laid down next to the Finn, nudging at Seb before turning to Charles, the pup wagging his tail as he cuddled in between Max’s front paws.

“Max? I’m going to find Valtteri with Seb, you watch Charles okay?” Kimi said, getting up. Sebastian turned into his human form as well, fussing over the two youngsters a little. Max protectively curled around Charles, before yawning, Charles following suit.

“Take a nap sweeties.” Seb said. “We’ll be back soon.”

They found Valtteri in his driver room, the wolf half hidden under the physio table. The large white animal whined, his ears hanging a little in shame.

“Come here Valtteri.” Kimi said, kneeling down. Valtteri shuffled out from under the table and turned into his human form, eying to two older drivers wearily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare Charles like that.” He muttered. Seb sighed, squeezing Valtteri’s shoulder.

“Why did you react like that?” He asked. Val tiredly wiped a hand on his face.

“Took it too far.” He muttered. Seb blinked in confusion, but Kimi’s eyes widened a little. 

“I just… I had to toughen up, stop being a wingman and start being a winner.” Val continued. “I forgot to turn that mentality off after the race, I would have never reacted to him like that otherwise.” He ended. Kimi sighed. 

“I understand.” He muttered. “But just don’t stop being yourself along the way.” Valtteri smiled shakily.

“Where is Charles now?” He asked. 

“Taking a nap with Max.” Seb answered. “And sorry for immediately dragging Charles away from you, I was just being overprotective.”

“I understand, he is your little pup.” Valtteri chuckled. Seb nodded, opening his mouth to say something else just as the door to Val’s room opened again. Max walked in, a brown ball of fluff cradled in his arms.

“I think it’s better if he stays with you.” Max said softly, winking as he placed Charles onto Valtteri’s lap the pup yawned but snuggled into the Finn instantly.

“I’m sorry I scared you little pup.” Valtteri said, gently pushing Charles off his lap before turning into his wolf form again. Charles whimpered a little but then stretched to carefully nudge his nose against Valtteri’s. Valtteri laid down and rolled onto his back, letting Charles climb onto his tummy. Max, already in his lion form again, curled against Val’s side, shyly attempting to groom the wolf’s ears. 

Kimi changed as well, the white cat purring softly as he laid down next to Charles on Valtteri’s white fur. Seb was the only one who stayed in his human form, softly smiling at the group in front of him as Valtteri rested his head on the Germand’s lap.

“Never change, Valtteri.” He whispered. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”


	17. Bunny Kev

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to write about bunny hops

Kevin slowly made his way into the animal room, his little hops tentative as he kept his ears pressed back against his body. Now that Marcus wasn’t in F1 anymore, he had very little friends around here, and he was not even fully certain he was really welcome anymore.. 

Checo the otter came scurrying past and Kevin made a skittish jump in surprise, huddling into a small ball. Checo paused his steps for a moment, letting out a soft squeak and sniffing in Kevin’s direction a little. Kevin thumped his back leg against the floor in warning, ears still pressed flat. Checo squeaked again, but then huffed and waddled off. 

Kevin uncomfortably hopped further into the room, looking around a little. He could see Daniel in one corner of the room, Max the lion resting his head on the Aussie’s lap as Dan scratched his mane. Pierre was scurrying over Dany’s back, trying to stay out of reach as Alex the bison calf mooed and tried to nudge him off. 

On the other side of the room, Kimi was fussing over little Lando, the white cat grumbling as he licked the top of the kitten’s head. Valtteri the wolf was watching over them, nudging Kimi occasionally with his paw to throw him off balance. After a moment, Kimi turned and hissed at him, ears flat against his head, but then started to groom Valtteri’s nose, the wolf letting out a surprised whine as kitten Lando tried to help as best he could. Sebastian was curled around Charles next to them, Charles the pup rolled on his back between his front paws as they both slept soundly. 

Momentarily, Kevin hesitated about curling up with him. Val and Kimi seemed to tolerate him, and Charles seemed unable to dislike anyone at all, especially in his puppy form. But at the same time, he didn’t want to interrupt whatever family time they were having.

Kevin ruffled his fur a little and hopped over to the furthest side of the room, to the empty sofa there. He tried to jump on but aimed his jump wrong,hitting the edge before flopping back onto the floor. Carlos the meerkat was instantly at his side, sniffing at his head and licking his ears a little. Kevin let out a grumpy noise and thumped at him. Carlos shuffled back a little, standing on his back legs as he regarded Kevin for a moment before scurrying off, 

Kevin shuddered a little and changed back into his human form, not liking how skittish he was while he was a bunny. He laid down on the sofa, on his side facing the backrest while pillowing his head on his arm, trying to block out the animal noises. He took out his phone, wanting to text Marcus, but then decided against it, not wanting to bother the Swede. 

Suddenly, a warm nose pressed against the back of his shoulder, followed by a chuff and a thud behind him as the figure jumped on to the sofa. Kevin turned before scrambling into a sitting position as he realised it was Nico, the German in his leopard form. 

“Get lost.” he hissed. Nico flicked his ears a little, but then pressed his nose against Kevin’s cheek, chuffing softly. Kevin huffed and half heartedly tried to push him away, but Nico seemed determined, rubbing his cheek against Kevin’s shoulder. The Dane suddenly sniffled a little, and wrapped his arms around the leopard’s neck to cuddle close. Nico licked at Kevin’s hair, making it stick up at wrong angles, and laid down on the sofa too, cuddled close to Kevin as the smaller man hugged him tightly. 

“Thank you.” Kevin muttered into Nico’s fur. The leopard answered with another firm lick to his hair. Kevin could suddenly hear purring too, but knew it wasn’t coming from Nico. Guti the cheetah jumped onto the sofa and laid down with his head on Kevin’s hip, continuing his deep purrs as Kevin hesitantly scratched his ear. 

Where Nico and Guti went, Checo was never far behind, so Kevin wasn’t surprised when the otter propelled himself onto Kevin’s head, squeaking and nibbling Kevin’s nose.

“I’m okay. And I’m sorry for thumping at you earlier.” Kevin muttered, lifting Checo onto Nico’s back. The rest of the animals now joined them too, as well as possible. Kimi nudged Lando onto Kevin’s chest, and then quickly hopped onto the sofa’s backrest, where the kitten couldn’t reach him. Lando meowed in indignation, before purring wheezily as Kevin patted his head.

“Thanks guys.” Kevin mumbled. chuckling as he was met by a symphony of squeaks, barks and purrs.

The peace was interrupted as something slammed into the frame of the open window before flopping to the floor. Kevin struggled to get up the moment he recognized the heap of white feathers.

“Marcus!” he gasped, running over. Marcus changed back into his human form just in time, Kevin throwing his arms around Marcus’s neck as he couldn’t close.

“Ouch, rough landing.” Marcus chuckled, hugging back. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too.” Kevin answered, pressing his face in the crook of Marcus’s neck. Nico sauntered over, the leopard sitting down a little while away from them and chuffing curiously, as if to check if Kevin was okay. Kevin smiled.

“Give us a sec, we’ll join you all later.” he muttered. Marcus seemed surprised at the interaction, but didn’t question it. Kevin changed into his bunny form, contently laying down as Marcus patted his fluffy fur.

“I’ve been in my owl form long enough, if you don’t mind.” Marcus chuckled, lifting the little ball of fur up and carrying him over to the sofa, sitting down next to Daniel, now in his badger form, and chuckling as the black and white animal instantly rolled onto his back, ready for some belly rubs. 

“Not much has changed then.” Marcus chuckled. Kevin nudged his hand a little before turning to nuzzle Nico’s muzzle as the leopard leaned in. 

“...Well except maybe that.” Marcus continued. He was happy to see Kevin was comfortable around the others now, the bunny even flopping onto his side against Nico’s head. Marcus felt more comfortable knowing his little bunny was safe with them, even when he wasn’t around to help him.


	18. Max the Cub

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *more explanation about the animal forms and their meaning in the notes in the end*  
> This fic is set just as Max gets promoted to Red Bull!

Max kept his head down as he walked through the Red Bull hospitality, only briefly looking up to smile at Daniel, his new teammate giving him a beaming smile in return. Max sighed and hurried up even more. He felt uncomfortable, not having been in his animal form for a few weeks now after everything that had happened, and it was starting to take a toll on him. 

He slipped out of the building to head to his hotel, hoping to spend a few hours in his cub form. He scrolled through his phone to send Carlos a quick message. He hoped the Spaniard would join him for a while, even now that they weren’t teammates anymore. 

It was always easier to be in animal form when he wasn’t alone, and his lion cub form wasn’t too massive compared to Carlos’s meerkat which was a perfect fit. He used to be ashamed of his cub form, when he had just turned 16 and realised he was stuck with it forever, but now he was okay with it. He was a cub, and that was fine.

Carlos showed up at his hotel room after an hour or so. For a moment Max feared things would have changed between them, but the Spaniard hugged him and kissed his cheek as always.

“Hello Cabrón.” he said, before passing into the room and promptly changing into his meerkat form. Max leaned down to lift the little animal up, letting it cuddle against his chest.

“Missed you.” he admitted, finding it easier to do so when Carlos was in his animal form. The meerkat squeaked and gently nibbled his nose. Max carefully put him back on the floor, stretching a little as he prepared to change. Carlos was scurrying around at his feet, squeaking as he impatiently waited for Max to join him.

Max sighed and changed, instantly playfully pouncing at Carlos as he always did. He was surprised when Carlos let out a frightened noise, running away from Max to hide under the sofa. Max let out a soft chuff, not understanding, but when he took a step towards Carlos, he suddenly realised how big his paws were, how much larger his form in general. Letting out a growl, Max stumbled back, whining and yipping in confusion. 

Carlos came out from under the sofa, quickly changing back into his human form and holding out his hand in a calming gesture.

“Easy, cabrón.” Carlos whispered, putting his hand on Max’s muzzle. Max whine, ears flat against the top of his head. Carlos regarded the adult lion with wide eyes, brushing his fingers through Max’s mane.

“What happened to you sweetheart?” Carlos whispered, tears filling his eyes as he realised what this meant. People with baby animals as their spirit animal were rare, special even, the very few who were young at heart. Seeing one of them changing their forms, after the age of 16, was a rare occurrence, and signalled something really bad had happened to Max.

Max changed back into his human form, tears streaming down his cheeks as he fell into Carlos’s arms

“I didn’t… he…” he let out a choked noise. Carlos let out a soft sob as well, clutching him closer.

“I got you, we’ll figure it out.” he promised.

“W-why am I not a cub anymore, Carlos?” Max whimpered. Carlos shushed him, holding him close with one arm as he got his phone out with the other, typing in a number. He waited anxiously but no one picked up. 

“Christian?” Carlos spoke to the voicemail. “I need you in Max’s room as soon as possible.” He quickly dialed another number.

“Dany? I need your help… It’s Max, it’s…” Carlos’s voice broke. “Just get here soon, and bring Dan.” he dropped his phone and wrapped both his arms around Max’s

“It’s going to be okay.” He whispered, feeling Max tremble against him. The Dutchman was so very silent now, seeming in shock as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

It felt like years before the door to Max’s room finally opened, Daniel and Dany slipping inside.

“What’s going on?” Dany asked in concern, kneeling down. Dan kneeled down as well and comfortingly ruffled Max’s hair. 

“Hey mate.” He just muttered. Max hiccuped and cowered into himself a little, looking at them with almost fearful eyes.

“T-they can’t know… no one can know…” Max rambled at Carlos, who quickly smoothed his hair back a little in a comforting gesture.

“We are here to help sweetie… I-I don’t know how to on my own.” He whispered. Max sniffled, still seeming uncomfortable. Dany frowned a little.

“What is going on?” He asked. Max flinched a little and lowered his eyes. Carlos swallowed thickly.

“Max, he-... I can’t…” he sniffled and buried his face in Max’s hair. Max clutched onto him with an almost bruising grip, but turned to peek at Dany and Dan.

“I-I can show them…” he whispered, even though the idea seemed to pain himo make him sick. Carlos nodded, squeezing his shoulder in support.

“That might be easiest.” he decided. Dan and Dany still seemed confused as Max scooted away from them a little. Max closed his eyes and changed into his animal form, the large adult lion laying cowering close to the floor as he shuddered. Daniel initially didn’t seem to understand what was going on, but Dany gasped, reaching to place a hand on Max’s muzzle.

“No…” he whispered under his breath. The lion whined, pushing his nose against Dany’s hand a little, before uncomfortably shaking his mane. Dan’s eyes widened as he too realised what was going on.

“Oh darling.” he unceremoniously pulled the lion into a tight hug, even though that wasn’t easy. Max let out a confused sound but then carefully licked Dan’s cheek, letting out a chuff. 

“It’s gonna be okay.” Dan promised. Dany had meanwhile joined in on gently patting Max’s mane. 

“What happened.” The Russian asked. The lion let out a pitiful sound, ears pressed back, and clumsily stumbled past them, trying to climb onto Carlos’s lap. The massive lion didn’t quite fit like this, but Carlos still let him, rubbing his flank and resting his head against Max’s warm fur. Max changed back and cuddled close, swallowing thickly.

“W-with the move to Red Bull, I-I expected my father to be proud. And maybe he was, but he didn’t quite show it.” Max hiccuped. Dan furrowed his brow.

“What did he do, Max?” He asked. Max shuddered.

“I-I missed a trained with Jake, my dad heard and h-he yelled and me, telling me I was not trying and then... then h….” Max let out a sob, and lifted the side of his shirt a little. The three other drivers gasped when they saw the bruised skin on Max’s side. 

“Oh díos…” Carlos looked away, letting out a choked sound. He reached for Max, but then hesitated a little. Max scooted closer and snuggled against him.

“I want to be a cub…” he whispered. Carlos closed his eyes and nuzzled his hair.

“I know.” he answered softly. Dan and Dany meanwhile exchanged looks, before both turning into their animal forms. Dan the badger hissed and scurried onto Max’s lap, flopping over so Max could scratch his tummy. Dany the bull calf hesitated a little, clearly not wanting to upset Max by being a young animal, but then stretched a little to lick Max’s cheek and hair. Max smiled shakily and relaxed a little, snuggling closer to Carlos as he let Dan and Dany fuss over him.

“Christian will be here soon.” Carlos whispered. “Everything will be okay.” he added. Max sighed.

“Will I ever be a cub again?” he said meekly. Carlos sighed and shook his head.

“I don’t think so.” he answered honestly. Max sighed.

“I better get used to being a big lion then.” he muttered. Carlos smiled.

“Let’s get into animal forms too then.” he mumbled. 

They both changed, Max moving his paws a little uncomfortably as Carlos squeaked and ran up Dany’s back, nibbling at the bull’s ear. Max carefully laid down, resting his head on his front paws. Dan came scurrying over and clumsily climbed onto Max’s back, happily snuggling into the lion’s mane without ceasing his hissing. Dany laid down pressed against Max’s side, letting out a soft moo as he nudged the lion’s flank. Carlos chose to snuggle against Max’s muzzle, laying on top of the large front paw.

That was how Christian found them an hour or so later, the four curled up and fast asleep together. Christian instantly realised what was going on with the youngest driver when he saw Max’s animal form. He instantly started to think about what had to be arranged, but decided to first stay with his boys for a while, make sure they were okay. He changed into his seal form, awkwardly wobbling over to lay down close to them.

Even though things didn’t seem great for Max now, it would get better. Christian would make sure of it, and he was also sure Dan, Dany and Carlos would be there for Max along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, you might needa bit of background info.  
> In this fic, most animal forms are adult animals, however, a few of the drivers have been given a baby animal. Most of them were chosen simply because they were cuter or just fit better, but in this chapter they have a deeper meaning.  
> As is explained in the chapter a little bit as well, everyone's animal form is a baby one up until they are 16, after that, they get their adult form. A few people however get stuck with the baby form of their animal (eg puppy Charles and kitten Lando) simply because they are pure and young at heart.  
> If anything really bad were to happen to them, their animal form can still change to an adult one, as happens here with Max, which signals a turning point in their life and mood.
> 
> I hope this explanation was somewhat understandable!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [almost some sort of magic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16236419) by [Anna_banana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_banana/pseuds/Anna_banana)




End file.
